Is Math the Ultimate Mind Distraction?

[Norman]

As your god, I declare this to be not dull.
What "interesting problems" do you solve with math?

For the reference trapped electron radiation environment of Jupiter, what is the best shielding configuration of Aluminum and Tantalum to minimize the ionizing dose at a depth of 10 mils in silicon for a 108 day Jovian tour.

Is that interesting enough? I thought it was.

 

[Hop1pop]

For the reference trapped electron radiation environment of Jupiter, what is the best shielding configuration of Aluminum and Tantalum to minimize the ionizing dose at a depth of 10 mils in silicon for a 108 day Jovian tour.

Is that interesting enough? I thought it was.

could you explain this in stupid form please?

 

[xxChrisxx]

As your god, I declare this to be not dull.
What "interesting problems" do you solve with math?

Calculations to make engines that operate at the very limits of the material or a well balanced chassis to go rounds corners quickly.

Very loud, very fast cars are infinitely more interesting and awesome that the equations that are used to design them.

The maths in a means to an end, nothing more.

 

[Klockan3]

Maths is a subject that gets more beautiful the more of it you understand, after a while you get to a level where nothing else can even compare. Who cares about some car when you have the logical fabric of the universe unraveling in front of your eyes?

 

[xxChrisxx]

Who cares about some car when you have the logical fabric of the universe unraveling in front of your eyes?

This is why engineers are inherently more cool than mathematicians.

 

[bp_psy]

I am more skilled with opinions and what not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0if7dj-bTI
Logic is what I like about math.

 

[Klockan3]

This is why engineers are inherently more cool than mathematicians.

According to engineers... It is not like most people find any of them cool anyway.

 

[xxChrisxx]

According to engineers... It is not like most people find any of them cool anyway.

They find the products (real tangible things) we make cool, stuff we produce doesn't have the effect of sending the room to sleep.

Mechanical Engineers > All other engineers > Maths nerds.
(guess what I do for a living

 

[Klockan3]

They find the products (real tangible things) we make cool, stuff we produce doesn't have the effect of sending the room to sleep.

If you are talking about what you do then you wouldn't keep anyone awake either. A few might be interested in the results but they are just interesting in expensive cars with powerful engines and not the engineering brilliance behind it.

As an anology, just about everyone loves what computers provides but they have no interest in the work behind it all, beginning with the first steps when quantum mechanics was invented, to solid state physics where they invented the transistors, to circuit theory kicking off for real, to discrete maths which was always the stepchild now got into the spotlight since it proved to be extremely useful.

The difference is that different people operate at different levels, the car mechanic is closer to the end product than the mechanical engineer who is still closer than the physicist.
Now the reason you think that your work is cool is because you are preoccupied with how cool you think that the end result is, but your work in itself is extremely dull compared to more pure problems.

Edit: And I am not a math nerd, I got an engineering degree in addition to maths and physics. Engineering is just too dull for me.

 

[Norman]

could you explain this in stupid form please?

NASA JPL will be sending a satellite to Jupiter sometime in the future. Previous Jupiter satellite missions have measured the radiation environment around Jupiter. When those previous missions were designed, they were over-engineered to account for our uncertainty in the radiation environment. That means much higher mission costs because you need to put more, possibly unnecessary, mass into space. More mass, means much larger launch costs.

Since we have a better understanding of the radiation environment, a more detailed study of the types of material and configuration of that material for a satellite is needed. So, for the known trapped electron (also, protons and heavier ions, but electrons are the most intense) radiation environment, how do you minimize mass but still have scientific instruments which will not fail. The radiation will destroy (virtually) all non-shielded electronics.

 

[The Chaz]

They find the products (real tangible things) we make cool, stuff we produce doesn't have the effect of sending the room to sleep.

Mechanical Engineers > All other engineers > Maths nerds.
(guess what I do for a living

an equally ridiculous (though more obvious in its fallacy) statement would be "english > all other Latin-based languages > Latin"

 

[bp_psy]

an equally ridiculous (though more obvious in its fallacy) statement would be "english > all other Latin-based languages > Latin"

Do you mean that Mechanical engineering is not a type of engineering.

 

[xxChrisxx]

an equally ridiculous (though more obvious in its fallacy) statement would be "english > all other Latin-based languages > Latin"

Way too serious bud. Next time i'll include:

[JOKE]
Joke text here.
[/JOKE]

For your convenience, as clearly the tongue out emoticon was not obvious enough to convey the intent.

 

[stevenb]

Mechanical Engineers > All other engineers > Maths nerds.
(guess what I do for a living

I got the joke but I prefer my version.

Electrical Engineers > Theoretical Physisists > Mechanical Engineers > All other engineers > Maths nerds. (can you guess what I do?)

Note that Theoretical Physicists used to be last, but the television show "Big Band Theory" has them moving up the coolness chart, and soon they will overtake Electrical Engineers. They may even break out of the dungeon and encroach into the lower levels of the next sub-group, thus placing Librarians in jeopardy.

 

[xxChrisxx]

Urgh! Electrickery, do not want.

 

[HeLiXe]

did everyone else in the commune have bunk beds except her?

this reminds me of an Engineer joke on the lame jokes thread...

 

[HeLiXe]

Solving math problems is very relaxing.

I have to echo this.

Well in a different way..math is relaxing and exciting at the same time and very mind occupying as it gets more complex. Sort of like dark psytrance. It takes my mind off of *things* I spend too much time thinking about. Plus it is the only thing I can remember in its entirety for very long periods of time...like how some people remember soap operas.