i think my brain is going to explode.

[jessicas37]

As some of you know due to the way the medical community treated me i am trying to reinvent myself in more ways than one. I started attending USI in indiana with a major in Nursing(if i cant fix them from the outside maybe i can educate from the inside). I have a Previous degree in CIS(programming major) graduated in 95, and have owned series of computer stores for last 18 years(all gone now due to divorce long story). I have wrote VB Directx Game Engines and been programming my whole life. This "New" way of doing math in college is making my head hurt bad...... WTF why do i need prime factorization to show work i can do in my head. sorry i just had to rant i have never felt this dumb in my life I was always the geek or nerd who knew it all.

[Julie Wilson]

I just read a thread about breast implants exploding.

So much exploding going on.

Maybe it's terrorism 

I think going to school would have a similar effect on me.

[Beth Andrea]

WTF why do i need prime factorization to show work i can do in my head.

As I understand it, the purpose of doing math "long-hand" is to be able to show co-workers how an answer was derived, so they can double-check the work.

If you're treating someone with oxygen and "think" they need 0.02 mg/whatever, but your co-worker says they need 0.03, and both of you say it's lethal to do the other...you have to be able to get the slide rules out and determine exactly what the dose is.

This is true whether you're medicating someone, or sending them to the Moon. There is no "thinking in my head" for some calculations.

[Jamie D]

As I understand it, the purpose of doing math "long-hand" is to be able to show co-workers how an answer was derived, so they can double-check the work.

If you're treating someone with oxygen and "think" they need 0.02 mg/whatever, but your co-worker says they need 0.03, and both of you say it's lethal to do the other...you have to be able to get the slide rules out and determine exactly what the dose is.

This is true whether you're medicating someone, or sending them to the Moon. There is no "thinking in my head" for some calculations.

Ha ha - slides rules!

Nobody knows what a slide rule is anymore.

I still have a couple in my desk.

[Devlyn]

Next to your can of pterodactyl repellant?

[Beth Andrea]

Oh hush!

Slide rule and abacus = FTW

I remember reading about a challenge awhile ago, between someone with a calculator, and a Chinese man with an abacus...Given the same immense math problem, the calculator guy got an answer faster (by just a short time, maybe a minute?), but the abacus guy got it right.

It's all in those crazy flippin' fingers, ain't got no distractions, can't hear those buzzers and bells, don't see lights a flashin', mathemitizes by sense of smell...

Oh, sorry. Got confused there for a moment. This isn't a Who concert? 

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Welcome to the world of medicine, Mandy.  I am not going to laugh at you.  Mine still has a dull pain and I only had Veterinary medicine.  But you will make it.

[jessicas37]

i just cant wait until next semester when i have Gender Studies i think i am going to be a class topic :-)

[justmeinoz]

I know what you mean. My brain is on fire, that is when it is not full of fog.

In my case it is French and History that are doing it. 

Gender Studies is a hoot, you have a captive audience!   Having seen the Gender Order from both sides you will have a big head start.Especially if the bulk of the class are younger,  it is fun being your own case study. I outed myself to the lecturer and tutors after the first lecture, then the tutorial group during the first tutorial.  Poor kids, didn't really know what had hit them. 

My History lecturer is right, students these days are so passive it's infuriating! They need stirring up.

Karen.

[MadelineB]

As some of you know due to the way the medical community treated me i am trying to reinvent myself in more ways than one. I started attending USI in indiana with a major in Nursing(if i cant fix them from the outside maybe i can educate from the inside). I have a Previous degree in CIS(programming major) graduated in 95, and have owned series of computer stores for last 18 years(all gone now due to divorce long story). I have wrote VB Directx Game Engines and been programming my whole life. This "New" way of doing math in college is making my head hurt bad...... WTF why do i need prime factorization to show work i can do in my head. sorry i just had to rant i have never felt this dumb in my life I was always the geek or nerd who knew it all.

That's great that you are working on another challenging career and a whole new world of learning. Math is funny, I've had the same thing... I was great at math back in the stone age, but about every 5 years or so I end up tutoring some friend or family member whose head is exploding in a math class, and for at least a week or two after the first mind-meld my noggin wants to go thermo-nuclear. That's until I can figure out the "new" New new nEw NEW way of describing the same old math. The math doesn't change, but the (especially college pre-calculus courses) teaching and textbooks do. Don't let it make you feel dumb. Like some hollywood stars and plastic surgery, the math classes get a complete makeover every few years.