Gregory's Server|
Found a new way to explain orders of magnitude while working on this cosmology joke book  Destiny
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 @ZachWeinersmith I hope this is a backdoor movie pitch. Of course, then it'd be a backdoor backdoor movie pitch. 
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 @ZachWeinersmith @ZachWeinersmith I know it's a big ask, but any chance you could add #AltText for posted comics for the lovely folks who use a #ScreenReader to make sense of images? 🥺🤞 :DisabilityPrideHeart:   @ZachWeinersmith "It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money." attributed apocryphally to "Canada Bill" Jones.
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Hey math teachers/homeschooler people - what's your thinking on when to allow calculators? Prompted by 9-year-old getting gnarly long division problems. She can set up the logic and can execute but no adult would ever do these by hand.
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 Not Saturday, but did just finish my Chex. I am neither of those but it seems to me that there is a difference between the concepts and the mechanics, the latter being where the calculator comes in. ~50 y/a, my parents swore I wouldn't always have a calculator in my pocket but ignore that. Calculators aside, like times tables, there are probably a bunch of divisions anyone should be able to do in their head. Good luck! @ZachWeinersmith i would let her control her hand divisions with the calculator. Maybe add gamification in the sense of “if you do part 1 error free in x minutes, then you may use calculator on the first calculation of the next part” etc. I second whoever suggested estimates: correct use of calculator includes expecting the right order of magnitude.  @ZachWeinersmith Teaching manual algorithms like long discussion is a useful way to teach mathematical thinking, even if you don’t do it in real life anymore. The exercise has intrinsic value. Once you move on to higher concepts, though, there’s no need to force kids to do division, addition, etc. by hand. As a classroom teacher, though, I might give extra credit if they can show how to do it by hand IN ADDITION TO solving a word problem. Hey cosmolo...don Why does Inflation imply that the universe is flat? The usual analogy given is that if you're on the surface of Earth and it suddenly rapidly expands, it'd look flat. I don't get this analogy. Like, wouldn't that also be true if the expansion were gradual? Also, and I'm sorry if this is especially stupid, but... the Earth's surface is closed not flat. Anyone have a better explanation?
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 @ZachWeinersmith I've never liked or got the "bug walking on a balloon" analogy and it's variants😡 If the Earth were expanded to, say, a radius of 1 million light years while we remain the same size, how could any practicable measurement taken on the surface be distinguished from the same measurement taken on an completely flat surface? @ZachWeinersmith Inflation is important because it happens faster than the speed of light, so the points in spacetime can't talk to each other while they're inflating. If they can't talk to each other, they can't transfer energy, and energy causes clumping and thus gravity because of General Relativity. Gravity *is* non-zero curvature. @ZachWeinersmith Jesus Christ, Mr Weinersmith, you came for the throat of my whole career! I mean you're right but, still.... |
@ZachWeinersmith ... pretty sure no-one in the old testament days felt Jehova was "omnibenevolent" that's a new-testament thing. ;)
old testament god was all "fuck you for caring about your town of friends i just slaughtered. Imma turn you to a pillar of salt!" or "hey you know how you like slaughtering goats in sacrifice to me? Do that to your son! Prove your faith! Fuck your mental health, or that your son will hate you for the rest of days"
@ZachWeinersmith It used to make more sense, that's for sure!
@ZachWeinersmith Furthermore, feel guilty for asking. Your faith is weak. Repent!