Posted on 03/06/2008 4:37:35 PM PST by neverdem
I took Calculus I, Calculus II, Linear Algebra and Matrices, Sequences and Series, Calculus of Several Variables, Probability and Statistics, the course with first order and second order equations, etc. that I can’t remember the name of, and Advanced Calculus For Engineers. Actually I dropped Sequences and Series and audited the rest after everyone in the class failed the midterm because the lectures were completely different from what he really wanted us to know. He erased what he wrote before you could even write it down. I did well on the redo midterm, but decided drop it anyway. I did write a program years later that generated Bessel Functions with Series, but even those kinds of advanced functions aren’t usually necessary with home computers and numerical integration. I wish I’d taken them all at the smaller less competitive college I started out in. I would have felt much more confident. Every once in awhile some guy would start talking about Hilbert Spaces to try to impress everybody, but my conclusion was that that kind of math wasn’t that practical. I think that was taught in an advanced upper level class though, not an advanced Freshman class.
Differential Equations. That’s the name of the course I couldn’t think of. Also the lowest grade I ever got in a math class, a B!
And like I said, for most people, even most people in highly qunatiative fields, that kind of stuff is useless. It's only useful for people who want to spend their lives proving thoerems.
I'm convinced that if only they had allowed me to take business math, "life skills" math, practical application math, I would have loved it.
No. Just 60 years of experience. I have known a lot of stupid people and a lot of very bright people and a lot more of people in the middle. It seems to me that the culture those people were raised in made the difference not some genetic factor related to an arbitrary definition of intelligence.
And other than measuring the extremes on either end, IQ tests, IMHO, are absolutely meaningless. Success and accomplishment is far more based on a persons willingness to succeed it what ever endeavor they choose.
“Or “if you can’t add with a calculator by now, go waste your time in the business school”.”
Nobody had calculators when I was in college. We used slide rules.
Because intuition and consensus are only the beginning in math or science, not the end product?
Males usually outscore females slightly in the verbal SAT and outscore them substantially in the math portion. Remember this the next time you hear a feminist blame the drop in male college attendance on lack of aptitude.
My statistial two cents. Dumb women are encouraged to take the SAT. Dumb men have already dropped out
Just to be clear, I wasn't arguing that it wasn't bigger at the extremes. I was arguing that even relatively close to the median, there are certain abilities which are notably divergent between typical male and female populations - and occupations that allow little room for divergent strategies will tend to be dominated by one group or another.
An interesting minor reference in one of the links is how females who are exceptional in verbal ability - even among females - appear to be able to perhaps be able to use that area of ability to compensate in the SAT-M, whereas males generally don't.
That sounds like it would have been for me. I passed Calc, but I never have understood why it works or what it is synthesizing. For me to use it, I need to know what it's doing.
You were clear before — I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.
The possibility of using language ability to get better scores in (purported) tests of math ability is intriguing.
OK, you rest your case. I don’t disagree there are differences between the sexes. One would have to be dumbstruck by the stupid stick to not make the observations. I appreciate your effort.
There also tend to be more men than women with the level of drive that makes them attempt insane levels of work, just to prove something to themselves
There are smart women. There are driven women. But the number of women with both qualities on the extreme right of the bell curve are very few
fascinating article
Drawing inferences from anecdotal evidence, especially personal anecdotal evidence, is generally a bad idea.
True statement. Trusting 'experts' is also generally a bad idea.
Take your pick. When it comes to understanding people, I'll stick with my gut feeling built on decades of hard earned experience.
Also a true statement. That's why I rely on neither anecdotes not experts. I rely on hard empirical data.
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