tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post1166414485528390810..comments2024-02-14T18:14:24.187-08:00Comments on 20011: A Disinclination for MathematicsGeorgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-59837635968342043312017-07-25T17:49:33.832-07:002017-07-25T17:49:33.832-07:00They clearly have an ability to focus that most of...They clearly have an ability to focus that most of us have only intermittently and in short bursts. I don't think that it much resembles autism, but I'm not a psychiatrist, and have met few enough artists.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-68193530339060910642017-07-25T13:49:47.411-07:002017-07-25T13:49:47.411-07:00Perhaps such people have a helpful splash of autis...Perhaps such people have a helpful splash of autism (that is, we're all on a spectrum, and maybe they're a teeny bit more toward the Aspie/autism place on the line) to make them want to do only what they want to do and also to have a complete lack of interest in those things that are alien to what they want to do. If strongly obsessive about one area, a person tends to be uninterested in pursuits that have nothing to do with that area.<br /><br />On the other hand, my father was an analytical chemist who published in his field but also wrote poems and novels for pleasure. I did not have a similar combination of interests....Marly Youmanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377938366750387442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-46496688221323298312017-07-20T15:21:45.211-07:002017-07-20T15:21:45.211-07:00It seems to me that consumer math might properly b...It seems to me that consumer math might properly be taught by middle school, being--if I understand what it means--simply arithmetic.<br /><br />A college friend insists that I helped her with the algebra she needed to pass then. I guess I could have done so, but I have no recollection if so. I suspect that more people could understand algebra than do; but good math teachers are uncommonly rare.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-7384499074541026182017-07-20T07:01:38.693-07:002017-07-20T07:01:38.693-07:00Postscript: BTW, I tried algebra again in college ...Postscript: BTW, I tried algebra again in college with similar disappointment.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-64177351937635537582017-07-20T07:00:24.240-07:002017-07-20T07:00:24.240-07:00Schools have taken to teaching something called co...Schools have taken to teaching something called consumer math rather than more demanding math courses. Not everyone can grapple with anything more complicated than consumer math. For example, I struggled with algebra and barely passed those courses. I believe some people have no aptitude for the subject. RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.com