{"id":6026,"date":"2004-03-05T18:55:11","date_gmt":"2004-03-05T18:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2004\/03\/05\/math-is-dead-lo\/"},"modified":"2004-03-05T18:55:11","modified_gmt":"2004-03-05T18:55:11","slug":"math-is-dead-lo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2004\/03\/05\/math-is-dead-lo\/","title":{"rendered":"Math<\/span> is dead.  Long live math<\/span>."},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday evening.  Lugging the end-of-term grading load has rendered me
\ntoo tired to report on the first fifty pages of Milgram’s Obedience to
\nAuthority<\/i>.  I picked up a dusty copy from the library shelf yesterday
\nmorning after class.  Found time to read some over coffee this
\nmorning.  Collin’s
\nentry<\/a> is helping me think about agentic shift<\/i> from several different
\nangles. More on that sometime this weekend, I hope.<\/p>\n

For now, I just want to share a comment Ph. made when he got home this
\nafternoon.  He and I have been spending late afternoons before D. gets home
\nfrom student-teaching, working on math.  The latest feat: drilling through
\nmultiplying and dividing mixed fractions.  So today he mentioned that
\nthey’ve started a new section–repeating decimals.  He summarized the
\nlesson: "you just put a line over the number to show that it keeps going
\nforever."<\/p>\n

Forever?  Wha?!  We traded one of our usual banters where I act
\nsurprised by something taught in the school.  It’s not a serious, deep, or
\nundercutting skepticism (usually); it’s more of a game meant to tease out the
\nlessons, to reinforce the in-school learning.  So I asked him what forever<\/i>
\nmeans in mathematical terms.  "If you couldn’t use the overline to
\nshow that it goes forever, when would it end?  It can’t really go on
\nendlessly, can it?" <\/p>\n

Ph.: Probably not.
\nMe: So when do you think a repeating decimal ends?
\nPh.:  When math is dead, I guess.
\nMe:  *nothing to say…long pause*  That’s an answer I won’t argue
\nagainst. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday evening.  Lugging the end-of-term grading load has rendered me too tired to report on the first fifty pages of Milgram’s Obedience to Authority.  I picked up a dusty copy from the library shelf yesterday morning after class.  Found time to read some over coffee this morning.  Collin’s entry is helping me think about agentic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ground_swell"],"yoast_head":"\nMath is dead.  Long live math. - 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Number of hours in seminars (GEO781 followed by CCR712 after a 15-minute break). 6.2. So I went to the gym.\u00a0 The guy I was guarding...he dunked six times in two games.\u00a0 All on fast breaks, but still.\u00a0 6.3 Number of times I thought to myself, Am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Slouching Toward"","block_context":{"text":"Slouching Toward","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/slouching_toward\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7166,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/18\/maths-of-the-ev\/","url_meta":{"origin":6026,"position":2},"title":"Maths of the Everyday","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"November 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Number of tow truck drivers I kidded with about the snow on Monday morning: 1 Number of blocked shots I hope to tally at this evening's weekly pick-up game: 8 Number of WC consultations earlier today that had me wishing our table had a dish 'o mints on it: 1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Methods"","block_context":{"text":"Methods","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/method\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6640,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/10\/31\/ispod\/","url_meta":{"origin":6026,"position":3},"title":"Ispod","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"October 31, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Just two sets of treat-seekers tonight and zero tricks. 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