My fiancée is a mathematician, and tells me that she eats by spirals, and she prefers algebra, so... Myth: Busted
How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
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Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#72I wondered why I had all of those hits to an old blog article. Now I know!
This is one of the odder correlations that I'm aware of. I'm glad that other people find it interesting.
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#73I use the Roomba technique to eat my corn. Random walks.
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#74There is another reason why you might chose spirals over rows which is that while spirals are more opportunist and agile, rows require you to work harder at the start and then reap your rewards later - perhaps a little more waterfall.
Regardless of approach, your opening bite requires pushing your teeth down in between unharvested rows rows and clearing out a patch of cob. On the second bite however you can now chose between the base of your newly cleared patch which is literally the "low hanging fruit" (spiral approach) or move directly along and open up a new row (row approach).
The base of your open patch offers good purchase for your upper teeth, high visibility of any oddities that may be lying under the surface and a good understanding of how much you're going to be able to expect from the next bite based on what you just had. Should you find that the cob is too much for you, you can also chop the remainder off, wrap it in clingfilm and keep it for later (or feasibly offer it to another diner).
A row approach means opening up the whole cob in one go. It's hard work at the start and you're fully committed. If you give up half way through you can't really offer your corn to anyone else or bag it for later - it's basically a mess. That said, after that first push you'll never need to open up any new rows and the rest of the process is pretty formulaic - you get all of the uncertainty out of the way at the start.
From this I'd also guess at the following correlations:
Row eaters:
- tend to start projects solo & keep going on their own
- tend to have a lot of unfinished projects that don't work
- like to tackle "big picture problems"
- tend towards optimism
Spiral eaters
- happy to break projects down and collaborate. Unfussed by solo or otherwise
- good at finishing projects
- not that fussed by starting projects
- tend towards realism / pessimism
Disclaimer
Everything that you're currently thinking :)
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#75I eat my corn in rows and usually start about 7 kernels in from the left and almost never eat more more than 65 kernels per row.
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#76I use the Roomba technique to eat my corn. Random walks.
Random walks? O_o
So, sociologist then? http://xkcd.com/435/
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#77There is another reason why you might chose spirals over rows which is that while spirals are more opportunist and agile, rows require you to work harder at the start and then reap your rewards later - perhaps a little more waterfall. Regardless of approach, your opening bite requires pushing your teeth down in between unharvested rows rows and clearing out a patch of cob. On the second bite however you can now chose…
Hah! Amazingly I am a row eater and everything fits (algebra as well).
I can't stop to think that everything we do can be analyzed and determine what kind of person you are. Makes me scared of what facebook and google can tell about a person if you can take this much out of simply eating corn.
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#78I's been a while since I ate corn on the cob, but as I recall I used to eat in a zigzag rather than "typewriter" fashion.
When people say "spiral" they really mean a series of circles, right? I've never known anyone to eat corn that way.
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#79I wondered why I had all of those hits to an old blog article. Now I know! This is one of the odder correlations that I'm aware of. I'm glad that other people find it interesting.
I remember enjoying this the first time and on this visit I was like woah btilly wrote this!
I am row, algebraist, functional.
What I find interesting is, if your correlation is true and given that Analysis and algebra are duals (in the category theoretic sense) to each other - what does this say about what the brain is doing?
I will also suggest that functional programmers are algebraists and OOP are more likely to be Analysts.
From day one a functional programmer is taught about disjoint unions, product types, and structural recursion on algebraic types. The more motivated (typically most via self selection) go on to learn all about initial algebras, monoids, monads and algebras in general. Functional Programmers are algebraists and not just by allusion.
Then we have OOP. I don't know how to place it since it is so broadly defined and is not as enamored with mathematics as functional programming tends to be. Hmm. Abstract Data types are very close to objects and are known to be coalgebraic - like objects from analysis. OOP also has abstract classes that are kind of like a final object.
Erlang is typically stacked with functional languages but is actually more co-algebraic and so closer to OOP. Which says something about OOP done right - I hope the OOP bashers don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Re: How you eat corn on the cob predicts whether you're an analyst or algebraist
#80Works out in my example.
Seriously -- don't be surprised to see an interviewer offering you a cob of corn as a snack (especially since we are having summer) and watching you eating it. While this should not be a major indication into your engineering nature, I am sure it may add up as positive/negative points into said interviewer decision making process.