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Mathematical genius is fragile

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Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#91

Post by Tomminn »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #31
ZeroFries wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A 7ft tall pro basketball player resides within every one of us.

Not every 7' tall person is a great basketball player, and not every great basketball player is 7' tall. With all due respect, what you say is a consummate example of "dangerously bad idea that makes a good sound bite". Most mathematicians out there are not Hilbert, Gauss, Riemann, or Euler. They are reasonably smart people that work hard over long periods of time to learn their craft and their field, and make increm…

Actually, if you are a 7' tall American, you have a >15% chance of playing in the NBA.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#92

Post by aphextron »

>Tests can serve a profoundly useful purpose in providing feedback and diagnosing students’ learning needs. But as blunt labels for students’ abilities, they can be devastating.

This is so spot on. I've recently started taking college math courses for the first time, and I'm astounded by how little actual "teaching" goes on in these classes. My entire term grade for Precalculus was determined by 5 tests of 8 questions each, and the class consisted of a professor reading from a text book for an hour a week with zero feedback or help. I think experiences like this lead to a lot of people becoming completely frustrated and feeling worthless at math, while also outwardly validating that feeling with an unfair poor grade.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#93

Post by dang »

whenwillitstop wrote: post #67
psyc wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I am saying, is that the two biggest complaints that women who have worked in this industry have stated to me, are being hit on, and being harassed. Not as a single incident, but as a pattern. The only argument you could make against this is that I'm lying, and women haven't actually said these things to me.

Lets do the math, there are about 3.6 Million software engineers. Software engineering is 90% male. There should be 1.8 Million women to fill that demand, but there is about only 360,000. 1.8 M - 360,00 = 1.44 Million cases of sexual harrassment and other gender based discrimination, across the whole country, and across all groups of men. Is that logical to you? Does that sound real? Do you have a low IQ?

We've banned this account for repeatedly being uncivil.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#94

Post by ouid »

Jillboy wrote: post #48
malanj wrote: post #2

The author lost me at "Mathematical genius resides within every one of us — most people just don’t know it yet." The movie Ratatouille captured the sentiment much better, "a great chef can be anyone". Which is not the same as "anyone can be a great chef". It seems the author is mixing up those two. I fully agree that gender, background, schooling, etc is not the key determination of genius. However, saying anyone cou…

Why is that? Why do you claim not everyone has the potential to become a math genius? Do you have any evidence to back that up (besides Ratatouille)?

Not everyone who wants to be a math genius is. Desire is not sufficient for mathematical aptitude, and I'm not sure how you can honestly define potential to yield a case where both potential and desire can exist without achievement.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#95

Post by ZeroFries »

sn9 wrote: post #89
ZeroFries wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't a part of a person's endowment their ability to work hard and put in effort where it's required, when it's required? The 7ft tall thing is an example of an easy to see factor, which some people have, and some don't. In reality, as you say, there are unlimited factors going into a person's greatness (or lack-of). By the way, there was a study where, given the same weight lifting program, a couple people gained t…

>Isn't a part of a person's endowment their ability to work hard and put in effort where it's required, when it's required? No this is largely a malleable set of traits. Good teachers can frequently change them in whole populations of students.

Good nutrition can frequently change the height of whole populations. Yet, we say height is part of a person's endowment. One might say potential is largely determined at birth, but how that potential unfolds is determined over the course of an organism's life.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#96

Post by sn9 »

ZeroFries wrote: post #95
sn9 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Isn't a part of a person's endowment their ability to work hard and put in effort where it's required, when it's required? No this is largely a malleable set of traits. Good teachers can frequently change them in whole populations of students.

Good nutrition can frequently change the height of whole populations. Yet, we say height is part of a person's endowment. One might say potential is largely determined at birth, but how that potential unfolds is determined over the course of an organism's life.

Yes but in even the most developed countries, nutrition isn't an issue but sufficiently good educational environments aren't.

We're still barely tapping into people's potential, but people still act form arguments on the assumption that we are.

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