Numbers and Siralan

[lurid_archive]

Although this is nerdy and predictable coming from me, I remember the time when people starting giving it 101%.

Comments

[infrarad]

This reminds me that I would really like to read The Number Sense based on a review I read in a random magazine recently. Among the weird claims (mostly based on reaction time in answering various numerical questions, "which number is bigger?") were that people appear to have a small number line in their brains somewhere which gets fuzzier the larger you get. Even mathematics grad students can answer "Which is bigger: 6 or 5?" faster than "Which is bigger: 22 or 25?"

(On a completely different note, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you for the advice you've given me now and again. I'm teaching calculus and working through my first grown-up math paper for my master's project, and continually amazed at just how to-plan this whole 'why not major in math?' thing has worked out.)

[lurid_archive]

That sounds related to the classical http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magical_Number_Seven,_Plus_or_Minus_Two, which is odd when you first hear it but actually makes a lot of sense on refelction. The whole logic and formality thing in math is about the fact that you can't use just intuition because your brain can't cope.

I'm glad my (almost certainly) bad advice has been a help. Feel free to ask for more whenever you want.

[dozing_panther]

this is off topic but...

congrats!!!

yay for you!!

8-)

[lurid_archive]

:)