Live data from Hacker News

Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

fliptomato.wordpress.com

91–100 of 122 posts

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#91

>unlike calculus—wasn’t something that physicists were expected to take during high school. did you guys have integrals in HS? I had only limits and derivatives for optimization via extremas finding EU, Poland.

Nope. At least not in an explicit way, because we saw those concepts in free fall problems and similar ones in physics as "instantaneous" quantities. Same with areas, but not that much.

My teacher tried to show us limits in one class, but she didnt had more time to do so.

At least here in Chile (South America), only the rich or with custom curriculum see those concepts at HS. Unless you go to pre-U paid schools or to bachillerato, calculus is only teached in Unis.

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#92
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She used the name "Tai's model" in the original paper.[1] I would consider that naming the method after herself. [1] (PDF link https://math.berkeley.edu/~ehallman/math1B/TaisMethod.pdf

The quote in the post above indicates that the name was in use before the paper was published.

If this was true, a paper should have been cited. Like all the other people did for their letters

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#94
post #7

Amusingly this paper is cited in the "Failures" section of Wikipedia's article on "Scholarly peer review": https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=33158412#cite_ref-Tai_1a_165...

How did you randomly dig that up? That's a somewhat hidden entry.

On a hunch I put the title of the paper into the Wikipedia search. Among other things, I got the "Scholarly peer review" article, clicked on it and checked where it was referenced.

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#95
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And surgeons came from barbers. What's your point? Virtually isn't the same. There is no need for DOs. Period.

Doesn’t the need arise from the constrained supply of MDs?

Yes. Well, kind of. More accurate to say shortage of MDs in specific specialties. DOs are much more likely to go into family/general practice/pediatrics/etc.

I kind of expect that long-term lots of DOs will be replaced by NPs and PAs. I've been to medical appointments three times this year and only saw a Doctor once. Got excellent care each time.

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Osteopaths in the UK and most other countries are quacks. Osteopaths in the US are real physicians. This is not a trick of labeling: In the US osteopath training is a science-based, rigorous medical program identical to that of an MD. Yes DOs are also trained in the historical "chiropractic"-like stuff, but most of the ones I know deemphasize that in practice.

Why have it at all? It's magical thinking like religion that needs to be debunked and obliterated. Religion and quackery have no place in scientific medicine!

I think a lot of it is history, a lot of DO schools were founded back with it was more of a viable theory and Med School wasn't much more scientific. Over a hundred years the school teaches changes, but the name and degree doesn't.

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well they’re more likely to believe in God than the general public so yes that’s entirely possible https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/news/survey-shows...

I seem to recall seeing a breakdown of belief in God by discipline, and it was the opposite of what I would have expected. Abstract mathematicians were the most likely to believe in some form of God, followed by physicists, with biologists being the least likely to believe. Considering how complex and unpredictable biological science is compared to something like particle physics, I was surprised by this.

I don't think it should be surprising if biologists are the least likely group to believe in God.

One common reason for believing in God is how ingeniously designed living things often are. The reason why this turns out not to be a very good reason is that evolution explains this better (dealing e.g. with cases where the design seems needlessly complex, malicious, etc.). Biologists are more familiar with evolution and spend more time thinking about it than other scientists.

Relatedly, evolution has frequently been the target of attack from religious people and groups. Biologists are likely to notice this more and be more bothered by it (imagine a world where there's a strong anti-technology lobby motivated by religion; engineers would likely be more likely to be opposed to religion in that case).

Pure mathematicians are used to thinking of intangible things like numbers, sets of sets of sets of sets, equivalence classes of functions from manifolds to abelian groups, etc., as real things even though they clearly don't "live" in the physical universe, and perhaps even as more perfect than the tangible inhabitants of the material world. I think this may make the idea of a sort of spiritual universe with inhabitants like a Most Perfect Being Imaginable particularly congenial to pure mathematicians.

(On the other hand, pure mathematicians ought to be less vulnerable to some varieties of philosophical flim-flam used by religious apologists. For instance, the so-called "ontological argument" is composed mostly of logical errors, and I would expect pure mathematicians to notice this more readily than anyone else. ... But: Kurt Goedel, who was one hell of a good logician, actually put some effort into coming up with a logically sound version of the ontological argument. Of course it's no good because it relies on axioms there's no reason to think apply to the actual world, but it does indicate that a sufficiently ingenious mathematician may react to a terrible argument not by dismissing it but by finding a way to make it less terrible.)

[In case anyone cares: I am a pure mathematician, or at least I was one before moved into industry where one gets paid more for doing easier work. I was a religious believer for many years but am not any more.]

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#98
post #82

Isn't basic calculus a mandatory high school course? How would such a scholarly person be entirely unaware of calculus? Edit: I'm surprised, but it's quite impressive to have discovered the same concept Newton did, all on your own!

Calculus is not mandatory for high school graduation in many places, but I would shocked if it was not mandatory for university admission in any science based discipline.

Many _or most_ universities will just tack it on as a remedial requirement. I guess highly competitive programs might just reject you, but I'd be surprised if many state schools did.

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#99
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why have it at all? It's magical thinking like religion that needs to be debunked and obliterated. Religion and quackery have no place in scientific medicine!

In practice, it serves the purpose of letting less academically accomplished students become physicians without resorting to Caribbean medical schools. This isn't a net negative to society because much of the overachievement in the pre-med set is overlearning the game, not genuine accomplishment. Talking to people who have gone to osteopathic medical schools, it seems like the true believers there have enough clout t…

I don't know about you, but if I learned that my doctor, with whom I trust my health, spent 4-6 hours a week in a class where they learned to say "Circle Circle Dot Dot, now you got the cootie shot" like a kindergarten rhyme... I don't care if 95% of them know it doesn't work and is a waste of time. I'd have serious concerns about their entire profession that they were even allowed to waste their time on something so unscientific.

(Not to mention a deep fear that I might get one of the 5% that will try to re-sell me rhyme based medicine as proven science).

Re: Medical researcher discovers integration, gets 75 citations (2007)

#100
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calculus is not mandatory for high school graduation in many places, but I would shocked if it was not mandatory for university admission in any science based discipline.

Many _or most_ universities will just tack it on as a remedial requirement. I guess highly competitive programs might just reject you, but I'd be surprised if many state schools did.

It's treated as a prerequisite by the time you are declaring a major. My state engineering school didn't require calc for freshman admission. The degrees all required the college level classes (or the AP equivalent).
Post reply on HN