Common Errors in College Math | Hacker News Reader

Common Errors in College Math

math.vanderbilt.edu

45 pointsdwwoelfel9 comments

saw pretty much all these in college calculus series. often it would turn out that the error went all the way back to some hole in the student's knowledge of pre-calc topics.

I like the very first one about teacher hostility and arrogance because it is completely true. Out of 10 random professors there may be 1 that's not an asshole.

Odd; I've had the exact opposite experience. Most of the professors I've met were pretty cool people. And most of them put in an honest effort in the classroom.

Maybe you're just going to a real asshole-magnet of a school? Or maybe the place where I go is especially nice?

I should have been more clear. I think private research oriented institutions where most of the money comes from research proposals don't have many good teachers. It's especially bad at private schools because almost no money comes from the state so there is very little incentive on the part of the school to hire good teachers and a lot of incentive to hire the guy that will bring in the most money.

I was a pretty poor student in college, and my professors didn't seem to like me much. They loved the kids who went to class everyday though.

Not much to do with being a poor student or going to class. I've noticed that some professors don't get frustrated when students ask questions and others get frustrated right away. The ones that are easily frustrated are usually the assholes because their conduct basically says "I don't have time for questions". Plus, what's the point of going to class if you can't ask questions? If I want to passively absorb information it is much easier to just read a book and even then it is still a more active process than sitting in class.

Whoops, errors in an article about errors. In "Everything is additive", he claims (x + y)^2 == x^2 + y^2 for x = y = pi/2.

Are you sure? It seems to me that he says:

    For instance, all four of those lines
    are inequalities when x = y = π/2.

That seems to be the opposite of what you're saying.

Arg, I can't read, nor can I do math. Sigh. Redacted, and I'd edit if I still could.

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