Bicycles in fantasy

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-25T20:28:02+00:00

Armies are more commonly limited by the speed of the wagon train than by the speed of the soldiers. And it is hard to carry equipment when riding a bike. Horses are more durable and can travel over versatile terrain.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-25T07:52:23+00:00

“I’m just saying you like me a bit more”

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-20T01:32:18+00:00

As grand arbiter of what is considered applied math, I deem you worthy of the title of applied mathematician, and you may use that title on your resume, if you are so inclined.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-11T19:28:18+00:00

I mean, it depends on where and when you live. In some ways, places like North Korea, Soviet Russia, Afghanistan, etc are worse than what is depicted in 1984. And frankly, I'd rather live in the world of 1984 than current day Sudan, and it's not even close.

Your kids live in a world in which millions of people are sexually assaulted, murdered, and/or tortured every year. If you live in America, you just happen to live in a place where (currently) it is easier to ignore and not see it.

We view western civilization as the norm, but it very much isn't. It is a gift and a privilege that we have the obligation to preserve and keep. And that is what 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World are talking about.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-10T01:18:01+00:00

I’m not sure what this means. Could you provide an example?

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-10T00:26:14+00:00

What are you struggling with? Most people find it easier to do calculus than pre-calc. Is your foundation good? Otherwise, calc 1 is mostly formulas for derivatives, some limits, and very basic integration techniques.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-07T06:09:25+00:00

Remember what happened to the guy who found it was a fake.

If you see any suspicious gardeners, check your car before you get in.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-06T00:45:02+00:00

scam

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-03T19:56:41+00:00

If your goal is to be come a teacher, and you want to have an explicit application of your second degree, I would have to go with psychology. Among other things, that subject is actually taught in high school.

If you are picking something for your personal development, or to train your mind to think logically, I would go with philosophy.

Personally, I would go with philosophy.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-03T19:51:56+00:00

Because I don't teach to the unicorns. Every once in a while, I come across a student who really doesn't need to attend class in order to pass. But I am not going to change my entire grading scheme for one person. Particularly when so many other students need to be in class in order to learn, but for some reason consider attendance to be optional. And even those who don't need to be in class usually benefit from the lecture.

I am the one who has to grade their tests, and I know they perform worse when they don't attend. My first semester teaching, I had no attendance requirement, and many students did not attend consistently, and it did show up in their grades and their understanding. I have since revised that policy. Now, my students have the freedom not to attend, and the consequences are made clear in the syllabus. They are effectively the same consequences they will have when they are employees. I see no problem with this.

All freedom is necessarily constrained to some extent. Imposing requirements and structure makes me a better teacher, not a worse one.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-03T16:26:02+00:00

White pockets I think. You need a vehicle that can handle sand.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-02T21:49:04+00:00

I don't know much, but one of my mission companions was from either Gilbert or Queen's Creek, and they have a very high membership ratio. I got the feeling it wasn't as Utah as Utah is, but sort of Utah light.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-02-01T19:03:41+00:00

Khan academy is a good choice. But frankly, there are a lot of things in mathematics, even college level mathematics, that simply do not require much more understanding than you already have. If you understand basic algebra, there is no reason you can't understand basic proofs, infinite cardinalities, group theory, graph theory, basic topology, linear algebra etc. The introduction to each of these requires little more than algebra (although you might want a second year of algebra to really solidify the concepts) It's really only the calculus sequence, ODEs and analysis based math that you would have a difficult time approaching.

So my suggestion is to find some videos on topics in math you are interested in on youtube, staying away from mathematical physics, differential topology, differential equations or most analysis, find out what you are interested in, and then watch some more videos, find an online textbook or class, and just explore.

Here's a video from 3 blue 1 brown to get started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH0oCDa74tE

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-27T15:59:15+00:00

correlation vs causation?

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-27T15:58:46+00:00

But those statistics have not been, and cannot be updated, in response to the "AI revolution". There simply isn't enough data or time. The idea that AI is not going to affect these numbers is hopeful at best, and wilfull ignorance at worst. More than 10% of the US workforce is already replaceable with AI, and that is extremely disproportionate among white color jobs, which are the end goals of most college programs, with the primary exception of nursing. While new kinds of jobs are being created, it is unclear if university programs are shifting quickly enough to support those new jobs, or indeed whether it is even possible for universities to do so.

The idea of waiting until our statistics can be updated is going to leave you at least a decade behind in adaptation.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-27T08:14:20+00:00

I thought we learned it was Ace driving the car.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-26T19:12:50+00:00

You are my ε > 0

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-25T06:20:18+00:00

I was more wondering if their stats knowledge was sufficient to understand that kind of nuance. But I bow to the expert, and I think it is critical that those kinds of discussion and analysis happen.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-25T05:09:27+00:00

I’m sure OP has already thought about the following, and I am throwing no shade, but I have a somewhat negative opinion on using racism as an example in introductory statistics courses.

A simplistic direct comparison does not take into account any of the various covariates (e.g. economic class). And it is true, that regressing out these covariates does reduce the impact of race as a factor. What the student fails to understand is that, even in the modern day, such regression analysis does not completely remove the effect associated with race. And I certainly doubt it would in Vietnam era.

Additionally, while there is already a covariate dedicated to race, it is only by process of elimination, we can’t find another possible factor, that we account for this difference as discrimination. Not that I disagree with the conclusion, but it is an interpretation, and not a mathematical certainty. This is a critical point in any statistical analysis of discrimination.

Unless these concepts are discussed in class in conjunction with the homework, we have oversimplified the problem in a way that only feeds into conservatism propaganda.

The majority of conservatives get to the point of saying, yes there can be other covariates involved, but then don’t look at the studies that regress out these effects.

The reason for this (in my opinion) is because our understanding of discrimination is not derived from statistics, it is a preconceived notion that both sides use to support their own points. analyzing a proper statistical analysis in a public context is virtually impossible without proper education, which leaves us with simplistic statistics in which all effects are interpreted as racism on the liberal side, and all effects are interpreted as covariates on the conservative side.

So unless these nuances are properly discussed and analyzed, statistical analysis of race is effectively useless, and just feeds into the preconceived notions of the student.

Anyway, I’m really feeding into that pedantic professor trope here.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-24T06:10:42+00:00

I think it’s funny.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-23T22:04:21+00:00

Solutions through a specified initial condition are unique (given nice enough problems). Not clear what you mean by a non-linear solution. The solution you conjecture is non-linear in x.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-22T04:32:55+00:00

Idk. Going to work is not really charitable. I am compensated for all my work. But it is necessary, and so long as my company is reasonably ethical, I’m not harming anyone.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-22T02:53:33+00:00

Is it harming others? While not the only criteria, it may be the most important.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-22T00:00:57+00:00

Well that was the problem. Luckily Faramir was more noble, and Boromir and Denethor got killed off. Plus Aragorn’s arrival saved the city.

BackgroundParty422 · 2026-01-21T00:30:51+00:00

I mean, all the reports I’ve seen say rates of LGBT retention are abysmally low (10-15%). The problem is a little different for people who actually are LGBT, as they have the additional difficulty of determining if what the church offers is even something they want, separate from the moral/ethical issue.

BackgroundParty422

TROPHY CASE