A smilie? Really? I'm stuned!
Can't you tell this is a hughly series thread? Has there been anything even remotely approaching humor in a jugular vein or lightheartedness in this ponderous discussion of massive import with the greatest minds of the (known) universe participating.
"Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low." -- Sayer's Law
LOL. (nods) Oh absolutely, hughly series thread.
And what's worse, is that I see the logic, get the logic, then I remember how Sister Mary in school taught it and then my brain exploded.
Although with using the PEMDAS method, my female admin was taught that because M came before D, then the multiplications come first. So that is still being taught in schools, or at least taught here.
Now the funny visual aide that Sister Mary taught us back in the OLD days was this:
2(9+3) should mean that you implicitly assume (yeah I know, assume) that each should have a parenthesis around them, making that part of the equation (2)(9+3) and the )( looks like an X which is (was) the symbol for multiplication that way you KNEW that you should multiple 2 by whatever result was in the other parenthesis.
It's enough to make a girl want a martini.. oh wait, I already poured myself one. :-)