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Comment by fatjokes | Hacker News Reader

> classes I dropped after the first hour (astronomy, because it was all math)

Yet another cultural figure stating without embarrassment how bad they are at math.

He never states he is bad at math. It sounds like to me he was much more interested in subjects like art, literature and film. Which, given his career makes a lot of sense.

Also, there is a difference between math and computation. If the course only required 9'th grade algebra level, I personally would rather drop it and take additional calculus courses.

I'm just impressed that a community college level astronomy course had math in it. Mine was nothing but familiarizing students stargazing and terminology.

You mean college level? My stellar astronomy involved quite a bit of computation for orbits, determining the mass of stars, etc.

I recall astronomy being mostly physics. It was one of the most interesting classes I ever took.

Mine was also stargazing etc, with no math. A math based one would have been very fun but probably wouldn't enroll enough students to avoid being cancelled.

Clearly he optimized his brain for arts. Why would he be good at math?

Not the point. It undermines the whole STEM promotion that the US is currently undergoing. You never hear anybody brag about how they no can read gooder, if they're an athlete, butcher, scientist, whatever.

Ehhh, I hear STEM people with an embarrassing grasp of writing/social interaction/the humanities wear that as a badge of honor. At least Hanks if self-effacing.

Those guys are idiots. I figure they turned a shameful weakness in high-school into a badge of belonging in college and real-life. It's also a lack of humility. I'm ashamed to be associated with them.

People brag about being bad at everything from public speaking to comedy to, yes, even math.

bragging != being unashamed

I'm not ashamed of many of my faults, and I will gladly talk about them if they're contextually important, but I'm not proud of them.

Well, he wasn't bragging about being bad at math. Also, people use reading every day so it's no surprise that most people are reasonably proficient at it even decades after college.

Plenty of otherwise intelligent STEM students and graduates hold the liberal arts in contempt and will take any opportunity to mock arts degrees/students/graduates.

In my experience the prevailing attitude of arts students towards science was that it was arcane, difficult and something reserved only for the smartest and most studious. Many science students, on the other hand, view liberal arts simply as a waste of time.

Neither attitude is particularly helpful.

Very true. I'm a STEM grad, and till a couple of years ago used to have some sort of contempt for liberal arts.

It's only when I started to do technical writing that I let go of that attitude. It was quite humbling, to say the least.

I was good in math and I dropped astronomy because it was all math. That and it was extremely boring.

It's really not for everyone.

Should Tom Hanks be embarrassed about being bad at math?

Yes. Your question implies that because he's a star actor he should be excused of his faults. Hell, he's not ashamed about being a bad actor!

Hmm--is that why Jim Lovell asks Houston to double check his arithmetic for the course alignment in Apollo 13?

Kidding aside, he has at least tried to promote interest in space exploration, so that's a plus.

> Yet another cultural figure stating without embarrassment how bad they are at math.

Imagine how successful he could have been! What a waste of potential. /s

And how many engineers are not embarrassed that they can't speak in front of a room of people?

WILSON!!!

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