Beautiful Mathematics

TV is too simple an answer. As your average joe I went to average joe school, albeit taught with a great maths teacher in every respect in his own right. However, try as he might and he nearly got there if you will, I could not quickly add up (mental equations) but when I got a bar job (17 yrs old) within three months I was an expert!
 
It's not about TV, it's about the consistent lowering of standards to meet some government target, or because we are too afraid to let people do poorly. Compare an A-Level now, with one from years ago. That kind of decrease in difficulty extends all the way down education to primary school in this country. And in England we are too busy finding excuses for people, dyslexia, dyscalculia, bad behaviour etc. and wanting to 'help' them, when conversely, the system is doing the opposite.
 
Shakone said:
It's not about TV, it's about the consistent lowering of standards to meet some government target, or because we are too afraid to let people do poorly. Compare an A-Level now, with one from years ago. That kind of decrease in difficulty extends all the way down education to primary school in this country. And in England we are too busy finding excuses for people, dyslexia, dyscalculia, bad behaviour etc. and wanting to 'help' them, when conversely, the system is doing the opposite.
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Dyslexia does exist, it is a known fact and not an excuse. I wrote my name backwards until the age of 5. I believe, like many things, it is genetic. My eldest daughter had the same thing, at her private school they said "there is is no hope"!!?? I had her tested at the dyslexia institute and they said she was a borderline case! Here is a question, why can someone do rapid mental adding up after a bar job but cannot manage it with years of education?:whistling
 
It does exist. It is poor reading/writing skills. That's all. In that sense, yes some talents or lack of are genetic. But it's normal variation. It is not something that can't be rectified by learning. It is not a disability. You couldn't write your name properly until 5, because your brain hadn't 'learned' to write it properly, not because you are physically incapable of. Now I presume you can write it in the correct order? What changed that? You learned how.

I'm not good at art, and am not good at riding bikes. I don't have disartia, or disbikeridia. It's an excuse. If you're not good at maths, you're just not as good as others at maths naturally. It's not discalculia. Work harder at it, and you can improve. And that answers why someone can do rapid mental calculation from lots of bar work (practice). Giving things a name like dyslexia gives the child and/or parent an excuse.
 
Shakone said:
It does exist. It is poor reading/writing skills. That's all. In that sense, yes some talents or lack of are genetic. But it's normal variation. It is not something that can't be rectified by learning. It is not a disability. You couldn't write your name properly until 5, because your brain hadn't 'learned' to write it properly, not because you are physically incapable of. Now I presume you can write it in the correct order? What changed that? You learned how.

I'm not good at art, and am not good at riding bikes. I don't have disartia, or disbikeridia. It's an excuse. If you're not good at maths, you're just not as good as others at maths naturally. It's not discalculia. Work harder at it, and you can improve. And that answers why someone can do rapid mental calculation from lots of bar work (practice). Giving things a name like dyslexia gives the child and/or parent an excuse.
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Mmmm...I think there is a lot more involved here than is suggested, I also recall not being able to recite the alpha until it was conveyed in a song? search me! The evidence is not concrete, rather than a disability that must be treated or cured, if they show other skills etc., the list is endless..
 
Shakone said:
It does exist. It is poor reading/writing skills. That's all. In that sense, yes some talents or lack of are genetic. But it's normal variation. It is not something that can't be rectified by learning. It is not a disability. You couldn't write your name properly until 5, because your brain hadn't 'learned' to write it properly, not because you are physically incapable of. Now I presume you can write it in the correct order? What changed that? You learned how.

I'm not good at art, and am not good at riding bikes. I don't have disartia, or disbikeridia. It's an excuse. If you're not good at maths, you're just not as good as others at maths naturally. It's not discalculia. Work harder at it, and you can improve. And that answers why someone can do rapid mental calculation from lots of bar work (practice). Giving things a name like dyslexia gives the child and/or parent an excuse.
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People are different. It is called a condition. There are big variance and variety of these conditions.

You sound like you think and believe everybody is like you. If you can do it so can they. Not so.

Different people, different behaviour different set of experiences with totally different characteristics.

As for Russians being great mathematicians - that's news to me. There are brilliant people in all human races and geographies and languages. It is a simple argument put forward as causing an issue in facilitating mental arithmatic as linked to English language and numbers... It is a valid observation that has been put forward.


In fact I would recommend
41SHFK6Y4RL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_.jpg
book if you would like an interesting read on many topics such as the Beatles, Bill Gates, Advertising Campaigns etc etc... (y)
 
yeah look dyslexia exists and some v v smart people have it.

You can;t just make the broad statement " learning disabilities don;t exist, there are only smart people and thick people" .

But equally you can't say "adjusting for learning disabilities, everyone is equally smart" .

Some things have got better but other things have got worse since the olden days. Like in the olden days you were beaten ubtil you were right handed. and dyslexia didn't exist because no -one knew about it, it was just " you stupid boy" (sounding like mr mannering from dads army). So now those things are gone its better than it was.

But as well the problem of targets and qualification inflation are bad. Its just like sub prime, a problem of incentives. Children are graded now in such minutia that an education that concentrates on the wood rather than the trees is considered somehow lagging.

I mean some schools now are just exam farms, you cant blame the children for that. Its bloody labour government and targets. There should be another thing in school tables for like how well rounded their old boys are. Mainstream education is deffo ****ed up, I think I will send my boys to a montessouri school (and then gordonstoun 1st choice if they get in).
 
btw no one ever talks bout arabic mathematicians but they bloody invented all teh good stuff.

i bet dyslexia is a bit like athsma... if you havent got it you cant understand why people just done spell proper or just breathe deper and get more exercise. it aint that simple :/
 
DashRiprock said:
btw no one ever talks bout arabic mathematicians but they bloody invented all teh good stuff.

i bet dyslexia is a bit like athsma... if you havent got it you cant understand why people just done spell proper or just breathe deper and get more exercise. it aint that simple :/
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Ha ha, fantastic. I remember being told to stand on a chair in front of a whole class because I was left handed and could not write with my right hand, in another class same again because I could not recite the Xtable beyond 10? All great things to think about.:smart:
 
targus+ said:
Ha ha, fantastic. I remember being told to stand on a chair in front of a whole class because I was left handed and could not write with my right hand, in another class same again because I could not recite the Xtable beyond 10? All great things to think about.:smart:
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just don't rule out the possibility that you ARE stupid and you CAN'T do sums.

no free lunches mate :)
 
not when you press 7 instead of 4 or 5 instead of 2 or 6 instead ov 9 or vice versa!!

LOL
 
targus+ said:
Exactly my point, if I was blind perhaps, I knew a person who was blind, but she could see better than me and I'm not blind!:)
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but what if she got 5 bumps mixed up with 2 bumps, or 4 bumps mixed up with 7 bumps?

what of she just lost count of the number of bumps?!?!
 
targus+ said:
Exactly my point, if I was blind perhaps, I knew a person who was blind, but she could see better than me and I'm not blind!:)
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I lost a chess game to a blind man from BGas once... I wasn't very good (121) but I think I totally under estimated him... :eek:

Ofcourse he was very good too... (y)
 
Attila, I can understand why some people are not as good as me at some things, and why some people are much better than me at some things. I consider myself fairly average in most things, and gifted in a few. It's quite natural variation. I have some limits, and could never play football like Rooney, or paint like Michelangelo, no matter how hard I trained or practiced. BUT, through hard work in probably any area, I could reach at least the average, or able to do a particular task. Not everyone could, some people have ACTUAL disabilities that prevent them from that. The only reason you hear the words dyslexia and not disartia/disbikia, is because language, writing and spelling is so important to our daily lives.

Writing or reading is something that we learn, we aren't born with it. Some people find it harder at a young age, either because they don't have enough practice, or aren't tauight properly. Then the difficulty isn't addressed and it becomes a bigger problem.

You should look into how many people are 'diagnosed' with dyslexia, and ARE able to learn how to read and write without errors using various techniques. By the way I didn't say dyslexia didn't exist. I said it does, it is difficulty with reading and writing. That's all. The same as any other difficulty with any other learned skill. It exists. I said it was an excuse. And I stand by that. People give themselves excuses of why they fail all the time, and we're all aware of typical excuses in trading.


From Dyslexia Research Trust:
It makes no sense to talk of 'cure' when dyslexia is not a disease. Dyslexics simply have different brains that find reading difficult, just as some of us find piano playing difficult. However our society places such great emphasis on reading and spelling that dyslexia can undoubtedly present problems - most of which stem from others' lack of recognition and understanding.
 
Shakone said:
Attila, I can understand why some people are not as good as me at some things, and why some people are much better than me at some things. I consider myself fairly average in most things, and gifted in a few. It's quite natural variation. I have some limits, and could never play football like Rooney, or paint like Michelangelo, no matter how hard I trained or practiced. BUT, through hard work in probably any area, I could reach at least the average, or able to do a particular task. Not everyone could, some people have ACTUAL disabilities that prevent them from that. The only reason you hear the words dyslexia and not disartia/disbikia, is because language, writing and spelling is so important to our daily lives.

Writing or reading is something that we learn, we aren't born with it. Some people find it harder at a young age, either because they don't have enough practice, or aren't tauight properly. Then the difficulty isn't addressed and it becomes a bigger problem.

You should look into how many people are 'diagnosed' with dyslexia, and ARE able to learn how to read and write without errors using various techniques. By the way I didn't say dyslexia didn't exist. I said it does, it is difficulty with reading and writing. That's all. The same as any other difficulty with any other learned skill. It exists. I said it was an excuse. And I stand by that. People give themselves excuses of why they fail all the time, and we're all aware of typical excuses in trading.


From Dyslexia Research Trust:
It makes no sense to talk of 'cure' when dyslexia is not a disease. Dyslexics simply have different brains that find reading difficult, just as some of us find piano playing difficult. However our society places such great emphasis on reading and spelling that dyslexia can undoubtedly present problems - most of which stem from others' lack of recognition and understanding.
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With hard work and practice I'm sure most things will be over come. However, one will need to be obsessive and probably lose out on other areas.

It is a condition - one that considerably prevents / makes difficult the learning process. To call it an excuse is not right. That's all I'm saying.
 
Shakone said:
It does exist. It is poor reading/writing skills. That's all. In that sense, yes some talents or lack of are genetic. But it's normal variation. It is not something that can't be rectified by learning. It is not a disability. You couldn't write your name properly until 5, because your brain hadn't 'learned' to write it properly, not because you are physically incapable of. Now I presume you can write it in the correct order? What changed that? You learned how.

I'm not good at art, and am not good at riding bikes. I don't have disartia, or disbikeridia. It's an excuse. If you're not good at maths, you're just not as good as others at maths naturally. It's not discalculia. Work harder at it, and you can improve. And that answers why someone can do rapid mental calculation from lots of bar work (practice). Giving things a name like dyslexia gives the child and/or parent an excuse.
Click to expand...

This is a puzzle for me, because as you say the 'bar work' gave me a repetitive framework, but when gone, very quickly went the ability of quick mental calculation in as little as two weeks!! So are we saying that unless I get up every morning and recite the tables I will not be able to do the maths (without the calculator)? I was amazed then and I am still. Or is reciting tables different to the 'bar work' well the outcome in the bar took less than three months versus an education (not knocking an education you understand).
 
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