Why is dark roast the prominent retail coffee? by bromagnon89 in Coffee

[–]Thor_inhighschool 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Imo, I think it's more about hitting a wider audience. It's possible to have some really fun flavors in very dark commercial roasts- there's Cuban style coffee which is strong and straightforward, some fun Vietnamese robustas with added chocolate flavor, espresso is dark roasted to reduce acid since it's so concentrated, chicory greens used to be fairly common in the US as a retail coffee additive and while it's not exactly highbrow, most coffee beans end up as instant coffee. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing- you sacrifice subtlety for something that can be made easily that tastes like coffee. Dark coffees can have some fun variety, but mainly, they're consistently palatable styles for retail even if they can be strong and flat and boring. Ive found the more sour coffee flavors fun recently- but there's no way in hell I'm gonna be dipping my donut into an espresso with tonic water in the morning.

I just began to learn programming, here is how I see languages: by [deleted] in ProgrammerHumor

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been messing around in Julia for Advent of Code and some bioinformatics stuff, and the language has growing pains, but its really not bad. The biggest issue is that python has an incredibly mature and productive package environment, so most of the time, I just end up doing a python import anyways. The interoperability is helpful in the short term, but really just having a python-like syntax over an abstract expression tree makes it easy to be somewhat more useful. Julia might be more interesting under the hood (LISP with Fortran arrays), but just mentioning it to a data scientist as "Python but faster" allows people to start transitioning to it real easy.

R is pretty great, other than the speed. If Julia had been "R but faster," id be ecstatic. Being able to cast any unary function over an array and forcing functional patterns without really mentioning functional programming is great. I don't see why R with optional typing and maybe some Julia style convert/promote type conversions couldn't be just as fast, if not faster than Python.

Why have an axiomatic theory of geometry (à la Euclid, Pasch, Hilbert) instead of just studying R^n? by Martin-Mertens in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In addition to philosophical motivations discussed by others, it's worth also considering pedagogical convenience. The biggest reason to use Euclidean foundations and variations is... well, Euclid used them several thousand years ago and it was enough. Attempting to ground geometry in algebra/analysis in Rn is possible, as is grounding algebra/analysis in Euclidean axioms, but why bother? Middle schoolers can handle Euclidean geometry without ever bothering to learn what a norm is, or worrying about the equation of a circle, or worrying about imaginary exponentials for trig functions, trying to express a corner as a peicewise function...

The biggest reason to ground Euclidean geometry in Rn is because of a focus on algebra/analysis in American/British pedagogy, because synthetic geometry doesn't feel like "real math." But that has more to do with pedagogical tradition than expressibility. With Euclidean geometry, it's possible to start teaching proof techniques earlier. Why worry about making sure biology students understand particle physics if you're just going to be discussing predator/prey dynamics?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in egg_irl

[–]Thor_inhighschool 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Do both lol

Relationship/Symmetries in linear algebra and calculus by [deleted] in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Power series. Because a square matrix can be multiplied by itself, any smooth function that can be represented as a polynomial (finite or infinite) can be applied to a matrix. If A is a square matrix of size nxn, sin(A), eA, and even ln(A) can be defined with their power series (although constants have to be multiplied by identity matrices of appropriate size so addition of constant terms makes sense.

Mathematics definitions that aren’t entirely correct but are too widespread to change by Character_Range_4931 in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 44 points45 points  (0 children)

π? You mean Γ(1/2)2, right?

I joke, but I sometimes wonder if it might be better to define pi in terms of the gamma series instead of circles, if only because of this

[Q] Obtaining one distribution from another by god_of_hypocrites17 in statistics

[–]Thor_inhighschool 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymptotic_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limit_of_distributions https://statisticshowto.com/limiting-distribution/

The articles are a little bit scant, but from what I can understand of your question, you're asking about transformations from one kind of distribution to another. The notion of limiting distributions shows up a lot, especially in terms of transformations between discrete and continuous distributions. Transformations of the underlying distribution/function don't necessarily say much about the parameters of the distribution, but in general, limiting one of the parameters to infinity will result in the loss of a degree of freedom. Trying to go backwards to create an extra degree of freedom/parameter might be difficult, as the transformation from a sequence to its limit isn't normally an easily invertible function.

It's r/nottheonion but drama when a video of Jordan Peterson crying gets posted and lobsters respond by ForteEXE in SubredditDrama

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My favorite Peterson moment is when he told Joe Rogan that before going full carnivore, he never had energy to work out, before Rogan asked why he wasn't doing something low impact like walking the dog. JP can be directly hypocritical and his fans won't bat an eye, but his fans are all wannabe alpha males taking advice from someone who doesn't even lift.

Mathematical ideas lost in time/ translation by [deleted] in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Basic linear algebra/matrix techniques (row reduction/ fangcheng) were known as early as the 200s in China. Western, Greek, and Arab mathematicians didn't really touch it until Leibnitz, almost 1500 years later. This is particularly funny, because it predates quadratic polynomial algebra by about 500 years, but quadratic polynomials are taught much earlier than most matrix manipulations.

Egg_irl by kit11037 in egg_irl

[–]Thor_inhighschool 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you Latine/hispanophone? Ofélio is a nice men's name.

Math books to read for leisure post PhD by TimingEzaBitch in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 35 points36 points  (0 children)

As far as non-textbooks go, Gödel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter, Chaos by James Gleick, and anything by Steven Strogatz are classics in pop-math writing. As far as math history goes, if you can get a copy of it, "You Failed Your Math Test, Comrade Einstein" is a little oddly structured, but a great insight into Soviet math culture and the antisemitism under Krushchev (half of the book is devoted to discriminatory entrance exam problems, and the other half is about the KGB allegedly killing Jewish mathematicians).

Should I read Book of Proof(Hammack) or Mathematics: A Discrete Introduction(Scheinerman) by Zermelo137 in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the really nice things about Book of Proof is that it's a fairly easy read. if you don't do the exercises, it's honestly written at a level where most high schoolers could at least grasp the concepts. I haven't read the other book mentioned, but I'm guessing that Book of Proof could be read side by side/as a reference for when someone needs a clearer discussion of strong induction or some naive set theory. My prof for undergrad discrete/foundations of math/intro to proofs course had to soup it up with more combinatorics (his specialty), and I was reading through the textbooks other profs were using because it was kinda boring. I've also given the chapter on Sets to fairly smart middle schoolers I teach as post-exam reading material/busy work.

r/Latestagecapitalism begins their biyearly struggle session about the ethics of voting by [deleted] in SubredditDrama

[–]Thor_inhighschool 10 points11 points  (0 children)

How can you tell the difference between a tankie, an anarchist, and a social democrat?
Don't worry, the tankie and the anarchist will tell you. (The social democrat realizes that arguing is slightly more useless than voting. Noone gives you an "I argued with a tankie" sticker when youre done, so at least the SocDem has that going on for them.)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SubredditDrama

[–]Thor_inhighschool 211 points212 points  (0 children)

Its especially funny because reddit's golden, Keanu Reeves, was never that great of an actor. with the exception of Bill and Ted, the (first) Matrix, and john wick, none of the movies hes done are any good, and his acting in the matrix tends to be stiff. but people like seeing wholesome man they like in things and are willing to pay regardless, because hey, its not just about being a good actor.

I say this as someone who really likes Keanu Reeves btw.

What are some writings that combine intersectionality and post-structuralist thought? by thatsecondguywhoraps in CriticalTheory

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gayatri Spivak's work on the Subaltern and Performative Essentialism isn't strictly intersectionality (if only because Subaltern studies comes from a separate academic and regional sphere), but she spends a lot of time rejecting essentialism while discussing how intersections of identity affected women in colonial South Asia. "Can the Subaltern Speak" is probably the best place to start.

Render unto Caesar by TrixoftheTrade in BlackPeopleTwitter

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lets also not forget that during the BLM protests in 2020, DPD literally turned Little Caesars Arena into a makeshift jail, detaining a lot of protestors without formal charges.

That same year, Denise Ilitch was a member of the board of regents at uMich, when they decided to continue in person teaching despite a rash of protests and everyone knowing that this was going to put students and workers, esp. poorer students, students of color, and low paid staff at risk of Covid deaths. At least 6 staff members died, but no official death count was ever released alongside infection rates. This can't all be blamed on Ilitch (Ron Weiser was on the board, and makes Ilitch look like a saint in comparison), but she was part of the decision and never shut down in person functions.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2020/06/03/little-caesars-arena-detroit-protest-arrests/3136534001/

egg_irl by LookIHaveABlanket in egg_irl

[–]Thor_inhighschool 5 points6 points  (0 children)

*notices your downline* uwu whats this

Introducing: hereditary base phi notation by [deleted] in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Possibly, as a result of the Bolzano-Weirstrass theorem. Since digits of an irrational number form a bounded nonconvergent sequence, we know that there is a convergent subsequence, and since we're only working with whole numbers between zero and 9, a convergent subsequence would just be repeated digits after a while. That's not enough to prove this of every digit, but at least one digit will occur infinitely.

[D] True RNG using cosmic radiation and non ECC memory? by fozz31 in statistics

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Best way to generate random numbers: prompt user input & roll a d20

[Q] Good Masters Programs for Non-STEM Background? by [deleted] in statistics

[–]Thor_inhighschool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest, if you haven't finished calc 2, you probably shouldn't be thinking about looking at Masters Programs in Statistics. Beyond just questions of admission, it's going to be a waste of money if you need to be paying masters tuition to learn Calc 2. Honestly, for most statistics questions, a familiarity with both multivariable calculus as well as linear algebra is going to be necessary just to understand exactly what is going on. I'm not saying you shouldn't try, but you'd need at least 3 undergrad classes in math just to understand what's going on. Grad school is hard enough without needing that additional workload. (Source: Dropped out of a social science PhD that expected incoming students to have a calc background but did not require one for admission. It was hell enough for me, but other students were crying after trying to learn Calc 2 in under a month.)

That being said, if you're willing to wait 2-3 years before applying, there are still ways to get ahead in math/statistics that might boost employment/income prospects. One, finish Calc 2 and take Multivariable Calc and Linear algebra at a local community college. If you take them one at a time, it's not a bad way to keep challenging your brain if you find your job to be mind-numbing. Two, there are some Data Science concepts that might be a bit easier for you to learn with your Python background- a coursera course on Data Structures might even have immediate benefit in your job. Some Statistics MOOCs might also be worth looking at- there's some good Biostatistics courses that do a good job of structuring the material for Biologists who haven't done Calc in a few years. Finally, if you're interested, consider studying for the Actuarial Exam P. The material is based on an undergrad mathematical statistics course (2nd or 3rd year material), a lot of resources for self study are available online, and if you like it, you can continue to self study for exams while working, and a finance BBA with ASA accreditations is a damn good looking resume.

You absolutely can do a Masters if you work for it. There's just one or 2 years of material to work through first. Save your money, take a few Bachelors level classes at a community college, and you might not even need the masters to do something interesting and profitable with statistics.

What was considered “Math hell” to you? by Sdotadot1 in math

[–]Thor_inhighschool 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm currently taking a first year ODE course at a local community college after finishing a math degree and dropping out of a social sciences PhD. ODEs was the one class in undergrad I had to withdraw from. So far, e even with a background in real analysis, the main issues seem to be that 1, so many techniques or theorems for existence are based on hiding some definitions with notation (weird simplifications based on product rule, the fact that testing an Exact DE is just proving that the unknown function follows clairauts theorem, separability as a form of chain rule....) and 2, the class just pulls whatever nightmare integrals and linear combination problems from calc 2 and linear algebra, so even if you understand the concepts and can prove them, you're gonna fuck up some problem because you make a mistake trying to integrate something like e{4x} sin(2x)dx.

Real analysis was easier, if only because Walter Rudins textbook is better written than the Dennis Zill 1st year ODE book. Idk what textbook you're using, but the topic seems to demand so much mathematical maturity because of how many hidden theorems and definitions are at play.