This is a really interesting article. I certainly can imagine this becoming an increasingly important idea in education. I certainly wish I had had these sorts of programs, particularly in high school, to build up my instincts when it comes to maths. Amazing. I wonder just how far-reaching the application of this style of learning could be... What do you think?
Brain Calisthenics for Abstract Ideas
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/health/07learn.html?_r=1
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Just because sometimes I need a break from math stuff...
My latest fad is a desire to buy a plot of rural land and set up a large luxury safari-style tent, solar shower, hobby farm etc. I think I will definitely need to rig up a swing like this and bring a long flowy dress so I can sit in the countryside and do the whole boho ethereal thing as I ponder recursion theory...Yeah, yeah, roll your eyes. It's all good, I'm used to it :)
Fashion and Hyperbolic Geometry
I only did one semester of Topology in my degree. We got straight into homeomorphism and sat around laughing away (in science professor from The Simpsons type laughter) about how a topologists can't tell the difference between a cup of coffee and a donut because they are homeomorphic. Hardy har har.
But, um, if I'm going to be completely honest, I had NO idea what the point of it was. Yeah, it's kind of fun and at various points quite trippy, but when was I ever going to use this? How did it relate to other areas of mathematics?
Of course, I should have asked the lecturer. But I was just trying to get everything in my head, do it all correctly, pass the exam. Worry about "the point of it all" later, right?
Yeah... Probably not the best way to go through university. So I'm taking the time to try to piece everything together now...
The more research I do, the more I realise just how much I've forgotten and how much I need to re-learn, but I did come across this article which was fun and interesting.
Maybe its time I had my nonna teach me how to crochet so I can make myself some hyperbolic pants...
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/mar/knit-theory
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