Math Useless Without Applications?

[sponsoredwalk]

except the humorous ones which I cannot gauge,

If you attempted to gauge them you'd get shot at (i.e. get vocally confronted) by the comic-strip math professor hunting for math students looking for real-world applications (i.e. the "pure" mathematicians on PF who are so pure as to spend their time here arguing about math's purity instead of actually doing any math).

 

[Studiot]

I laughed at the comic strip.
I also laughed at the humurous comment by a real maths professor earlier on.

Rock on baby.

 

[freydawg56]

I read this thread and laughed, but also shook my head sadly.

May I offer my congratulations to the OP as the only contributor who appears to have learned anything.

As far as I can see he is the only one to have the guts to have stood up and admitted to a change of opinion. Every other contributor, except the humorous ones which I cannot gauge, appears to have left the thread with the same entrenched opinion as (s)he arrived with.

What a sorry exercise in communication.

Off topic:
but, i don't change my opinion every time i read something and most people don't either.
I do however consider new ideas and the possibility of adjusting my own opinions.
**no harshness intended, and there are reasons these kind of jokes exist

http://www.farmdale.com/emp-jokes.shtml

 

[Dembadon]

I read this thread and laughed, but also shook my head sadly.

May I offer my congratulations to the OP as the only contributor who appears to have learned anything.

As far as I can see he is the only one to have the guts to have stood up and admitted to a change of opinion. Every other contributor, except the humorous ones which I cannot gauge, appears to have left the thread with the same entrenched opinion as (s)he arrived with.

What a sorry exercise in communication.

Care to elaborate on this, or share your own opinion? Please, enlighten us! Given your attitude towards the thread and everyone who has posted in it, I'm sure we could all glean some useful information from your superior understanding.

 

[HallsofIvy]

I read this thread and laughed, but also shook my head sadly.

May I offer my congratulations to the OP as the only contributor who appears to have learned anything.

As far as I can see he is the only one to have the guts to have stood up and admitted to a change of opinion. Every other contributor, except the humorous ones which I cannot gauge, appears to have left the thread with the same entrenched opinion as (s)he arrived with.

What a sorry exercise in communication.

And by that you mean "the only one who agreed with me"?

 

[pawan_ctn]

nothing is useless in maths... math is the subject of arts and science both.
we always use it as tool to calculate and evaluate the science theories but it is not limited upto there only. see the mathematics by the eyes of maths not by the science. if u ll see it as a science tool then u can say, but the mathematics is a alone subject , it has own thinking

 

[Studiot]

And by that you mean "the only one who agreed with me"?

Of course not.

In fact the post immediately prior to the source of this quote takes me to task for not venturing any opinion.

I thought I had clearly congratulated the OP on openly saying he had disagreed with his teacher, but listened to her, thought about it, and turned again, like Dick Whittington.

BTW your earlier post was one of those I found humorous rather than lining up with one side or the other.

 

[Dembadon]

The reason I asked you to elaborate is because your post does not address the OP’s question.

… I thought I had clearly congratulated the OP on openly saying he had disagreed with his teacher, but listened to her, thought about it, and turned again, like Dick Whittington. …

You still avoid taking a personal stance regarding the OP's question. Congratulating someone else on their thought process does not have anything to do with whether or not you think math is useless, which is the question that is being asked by the OP. In other words, we would be wrong to assume anything about your position without a more direct statement from you.

Also, you do not know whether or not the posters have done as you suggest here. I’m sure most, if not all, read the post, thought about it, and then responded with their opinion.

As far as I can see he is the only one to have the guts to have stood up and admitted to a change of opinion. Every other contributor, except the humorous ones which I cannot gauge, appears to have left the thread with the same entrenched opinion as (s)he arrived with.

Here, you seem to be implying that, "Every other contributor..." should have changed their minds after reading the first post; which I guess is the entrenched opinion with which you arrived? If it's not, please elaborate.

May I offer my congratulations to the OP as the only contributor who appears to have learned anything.

Learned anything? The position of superiority you take here leads me to believe that you have a full understanding of what one should have said. If my assumption is incorrect, please elaborate.

What a sorry exercise in communication.

I thought the goal of a forum was to stimulate discussion between all opinions, not just one. I’d say it’s working as intended; quite well, even. If you agree with that, please elaborate on what you meant by this statement.

 

[Studiot]

You still avoid taking a personal stance regarding the OP's question. Congratulating someone else on their thought process does not have anything to do with whether or not you think math is useless, which is the question that is being asked by the OP. In other words, we would be wrong to assume anything about your position without a more direct statement from you.

Agreed, although since this is a math sub-forum I wonder if it has to be one or the other? Perhaps there is a third, fourth, fifth... way?

As an applied mathematician I have no desire to get into a war with someone with a shotgun.

Take a look at this thread. My curt comment quickly stimulated further thought and discourse rather better than my just 'pronouncing from on high' might have done.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=381546

Not that I'm here from on high - I'm here to learn like everyone else.

 

[Dembadon]

Agreed, although since this is a math sub-forum I wonder if it has to be one or the other? Perhaps there is a third, fourth, fifth... way? ...

I didn't place a limit on how many solutions/opinions one could offer, either. I just asked if you had one.

... As an applied mathematician I have no desire to get into a war with someone with a shotgun. ...

Good. I have no desire to start a war, nor did I intend to portray myself as a shotgun-wielding applied mathematician slayer. I am seeking understanding; nothing more.

 

[George Jones]

http://abstrusegoose.com/strips/pure_mathematics.JPG

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Notice that in the second-last panel, the applied mathematicians say "X ... ," and, in the last panel, X satisfies Killing's equations, so X is a killing vector (field).