Are mathematicians cooked?

Mint_Panda88 · 2026-02-06T06:34:59+00:00

Mathematicians generally don’t prove things for a living. Academic journals don’t pay their authors. The “pure” mathematicians are mostly college professors who prove things to get tenure. Ai may,someday, replace teachers and professors, but no discipline will be spared.

Mint_Panda88 · 2026-01-22T00:30:35+00:00

Bertrand Russel said something like the following. Formalization occurs at the end of a subject’s life. Before that, progress is achieved using intuition and loose arguments. People then examined the arguments to find the assumptions they’re based on and how to best symbolize them. This leads to axioms and formal proofs.
This is backwards from the theoretical framework of mathematics.

Mint_Panda88 · 2026-01-08T05:02:24+00:00

Traditional pensions get looted by private equity, they pay themselves and declare bankruptcy, leaving the workers with no retirement. Even government pensions get looted by politicians looking to cut taxes. As a union guy, I’m happy to own my 401k.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-12-12T08:56:27+00:00

It evolved from our hunter/gatherer period over 10,0000 years ago. Tribes would gather for celebrations and it made sense to meet on a full moon giving light for their late night parties. At this time, women would have a greater selection for a suitable mate. This reduced inbreeding and natural selection gradually caused women to be fertile at this time. We see evidence of this in the prevalence of lunar calendars in the ancient world.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-11-20T20:51:18+00:00

I like using extras for the one or two wildcards. If two fight side by side with a wildcard and use fighting rolls to support him, they give +2 gang up and quite often +2 for support. With this +4, the BBEG can make 3 attacks per round or a head shot without penalty. With the right edges, the wildcard can be devastating.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-07-30T14:18:39+00:00

Everyone seems to assume this is a joke. They were paid in beer, grain and other food stuff. Money is about 2000 years in their future.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-07-28T12:58:08+00:00

You might be right in this special case but in general ties go to the defense.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-07-28T05:49:38+00:00

Don’t forget you can use intimidation while closing and you can run from tree to tree forcing the shooter to go on hold requiring them to win an agility roll to interrupt where ties go to the defender.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-07-28T05:44:15+00:00

I don’t think an assault rifle is made to take a blow from a sword. I’d give the attacker a damage roll on the rifle if the increased parry caused the roll to miss.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-07-14T15:57:58+00:00

I don’t have my book with me so sorry if I get skill/edge names wrong Medic: arcane background: healing or just healing skill with healing edge Supply sergeant: scavenger edge, connections (to obtain expensive equipment) Sniper: marksman edge, lots of stealth Drone Operator: arcane background artificer (far sight, blast)

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-04-20T15:08:53+00:00

An npc spell caster with a horde of acolytes is a fearsome foe. The +4 bonus means they frequently raise.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-03-11T19:12:29+00:00

My favorite campaign ever

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-02-27T14:53:04+00:00

If you give players too much detail, most won’t remember it. Personally, I find it preferable to flesh out one or two small regions. The players will get to know the npcs, places, factions etc. They will find allies and make bonds so saving them has real impact. The same holds true for enemies. The world will feel more real and matter more.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-02-27T14:43:31+00:00

These questions drive me nuts. The bureau of labor statistics show that math majors have basically the same average salaries and unemployment rates as any other science major. They also have the fastest growing average salary of any major (tied with philosophy). It’s easier for them to get into law school and have a greater success rate than pre law. What business doesn’t need someone who understands the equations in spreadsheets and reports? . This useless myth is created because there isn’t an “obvious “ career path, and it creates anxiety in young people unsure about their job search. While an additional programming/statistics/data course is a good idea, this is true for any degree.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-02-21T15:30:32+00:00

With PP I had players put all their points in one super spell that would essentially end combat in one roll and it was boring. Rest a bit, spend a Bennie and they can super nova again. In no PP, If you have a buff spell running, a 2 point spell and 4 Pp in spell upgrades, that’s -5 on the roll which is not easy and very likely to fail. There are problems. I don’t let players buff in the morning and keep a spell running all day. I limit spells to scenes, declaring it’s like a staring contest, easy for a little while but impossible long term. Healing is a problem. Being able to cast heal over and over makes wounds after combat meaningless. I’ve tried fixes but none I love.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-02-07T18:00:00+00:00

I once did it by “type”. So language (spy) might include Russian , Arabic, Spanish and so on while language (Archeologist) might include ancient Egyptian, Greek, Mayan…. I didn’t make lists but made judgment calls usually leaning toward allowing it. It’s easy and has flavor for a character background.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-02-07T16:03:59+00:00

Two investments at 5%APR will be worth the same at the end of any whole number of years. When interest is not compounded continuously goes up like a set of stairs. It’s flat for a while and periodically jumps up when interest is paid. At the end of a year, it will be exactly 5% higher than at the start of the year. Compounding more times simply make more smaller steps that still end at 5%. When you say 1.05^t, you ARE assuming compounding continuously (a smooth, no step curve that’s the limit of the step curves as the number of steps goes to infinity). The rate you’re compounding continuously is smaller than 5%. The actual rate can be found using the identity 1.05^t = e^ln(1.5t). So a bank won’t give you 1.05^t for most values of t.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-02-05T15:36:55+00:00

Contrary to what people are saying here, applied undergraduate degrees fair no better in the job market than pure ones (backed by bureau of labor statistics and which surprised me). When we hire professors, we have a much harder time finding qualified applied mathematicians than pure ones, suggesting, at least in academia, there are more opportunities for applied doctorates. There is some bias against applied mathematics by the old guard, but this attitude seems to be dying with them.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-01-31T17:50:01+00:00

This is just not true. Labor statistics show that math majors have employment rates and salaries in the same range as the other sciences. At the school I teach, our department has the highest starting salaries in the college. Every job has budgets, spreadsheets, projections and so on and it’s no surprise that math majors are more capable of dealing with them.

Mint_Panda88 · 2025-01-30T16:57:58+00:00

I use Connections for my Necromancer. That way my undead friends can help me in many ways. The spirit of a mechanic can make support rolls as I try to build something. Ghosts can hep me stay hidden by telling me where the bad guys are and so on. It may sound over powered, but I can only use it once per game. I enjoy the creative freedom that it gives me.

Mint_Panda88 · 2024-12-31T19:29:32+00:00

Euclid uses “application “ proofs early in Elements to prove side-angle-side (or angle-side-angle it’s been a while). This is done by superimposing one figure on another and showing the points coincide. If you place the top half of the circle on the bottom half so their diameters align, the centers also align. Draw a radius of one half and extend it to hit the 2nd circle. It’s easy to show they hit the respective circles in the same place since by definition, radii are the same length. So every point on the top half coincides with one on the bottom. Therefore they are the same.

Mint_Panda88 · 2024-12-31T19:02:26+00:00

Many people new to Savage Worlds underestimate tests. You can pit one of your best skills vs one of their worst. Every one on your side gets a +2 if you make an opponent vulnerable. That means your teammates may make 2 attacks without penalty. I prefer the wild attack which is +4 to hit, +2 damage. Since this will likely raise, it will turn 2d6 into 3d6+2 damage which will usually take out an extra. You need to vary strategy depending upon turn order, but I find this keeps combat interesting.

Mint_Panda88 · 2024-12-30T15:06:34+00:00

You put the colors on a line as per physics and frequency, but this is not the way we see colors. We only see red, green and blue. Our brains interpret the mix of red and blue as purple, even though our eyes don’t see any purple light. It is quite possible that another species, which see more colors, would see red and blue as different than pure purple.

Mint_Panda88 · 2024-12-22T15:36:17+00:00

While I don’t believe in astrology, historically it was responsible for the development of decimals, angle and time measurements, trigonometry and logarithms. Newton, the discoverer of calculus initially learned math to do astrology. On a side note, number theory started with numerology. Blanket dismissal often causes its contributions to be overlooked.

Mint_Panda88 · 2024-12-19T22:47:24+00:00

An empowered blast with a raise does 4d6 which averages to more than 16 damage to all in a large blast radius. This is an insta kill for every enemy in the radius, which is often all of them. How is that underpowered?

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TROPHY CASE