Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
On 30/08/2011 09:49 PM, Jerzy Karczmarczuk wrote: Knuth admitted that he had learnt a lot while teaching things he already knew. So did Feynman. And Landau. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, explaining something to somebody else forces you to order your thoughts and think through the knowledge you already have, so that you can present it to somebody else in something resembling a coherant form. It's not unusual for this process to clarify your own knowledge. At least, that's *my* excuse for constantly talking to myself... _ ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics and modesty
On 30/08/2011 07:58 PM, Jerzy Karczmarczuk wrote: I think I know several mathematicians who learning that a person asking for help begins with trying to distinguish between knowledgeable, and those who just think they are, will simply - to say it politely - refuse to engage. I didn't intend to sound snobbish. It's just that there are people who will have read about XYZ in a book one time, and there are people who actually use XYZ every day of their working lives. The latter probably know a tad more about it. That's all. ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
Statistics questions tend to end up on http://stats.stackexchange.com/, so you could try that, too. It's a well-informed community. Jack Henahan jhena...@uvm.edu == Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes…. -- Michael R. Fellows and Ian Parberry == 398E692F.gpg Description: application/apple-msg-attachment On Aug 30, 2011, at 2:04 PM, Andrew Coppin wrote: On 29/08/2011 01:13 PM, Christopher Done wrote: There's also #math on freenode, but it's a scary wilderness. On 29 August 2011 13:34, Benedict Eastaughionf...@gmail.com wrote: On 29 August 2011 09:34, Andrew Coppinandrewcop...@btinternet.com wrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? Apart from math.stackexchange.com and mathoverflow.net, which people have already mentioned, people often discuss mathematics on #haskell-blah on Freenode. I know of several places where I can ask maths questions and half a dozen people will take guesses at what the correct solution might be. I haven't yet found anywhere where I can say when would a chi-squared test be more appropriate than a KS test? and get an informed, knowledgeable answer. (Answers from people who /know/ what they're talking about rather than just /think/ they know.) Anyway, from this thread I've got the names of a few places to start looking. And that's really what I was hoping for. Thanks for the tips. ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
On 29/08/2011 01:13 PM, Christopher Done wrote: There's also #math on freenode, but it's a scary wilderness. On 29 August 2011 13:34, Benedict Eastaughionf...@gmail.com wrote: On 29 August 2011 09:34, Andrew Coppinandrewcop...@btinternet.com wrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? Apart from math.stackexchange.com and mathoverflow.net, which people have already mentioned, people often discuss mathematics on #haskell-blah on Freenode. I know of several places where I can ask maths questions and half a dozen people will take guesses at what the correct solution might be. I haven't yet found anywhere where I can say when would a chi-squared test be more appropriate than a KS test? and get an informed, knowledgeable answer. (Answers from people who /know/ what they're talking about rather than just /think/ they know.) Anyway, from this thread I've got the names of a few places to start looking. And that's really what I was hoping for. Thanks for the tips. ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
[Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics and modesty
Andrew Coppin : I haven't yet found anywhere where I can say when would a chi-squared test be more appropriate than a KS test? and get an informed, knowledgeable answer. (Answers from people who /know/ what they're talking about rather than just /think/ they know.) With all my respect: I think I know several mathematicians who learning that a person asking for help begins with trying to distinguish between knowledgeable, and those who just think they are, will simply - to say it politely - refuse to engage. (There might be some impolite answers as well, but you don't need the details). Jerzy Karczmarczuk ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics and modesty
On Tue, 2011-08-30 at 20:58 +0200, Jerzy Karczmarczuk wrote: With all my respect: I think I know several mathematicians who learning that a person asking for help begins with trying to distinguish between knowledgeable, and those who just think they are, will simply - to say it politely - refuse to engage. I don't agree with this. It's the most natural thing in the world to listen to an answer and then try to figure out whether the speaker knows what they are talking about or not. Those who expect us to forego that step aren't really engaged in mathematics any more. -- Chris Smith ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics and modesty
He said Trying to distinguish first between knowledgeable, wise, guru, wizard, etc. before asking the actual mathematics related question. Beware: the expert X is an unknown quantity spert is a drip under pressure :D On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 12:16 PM, Chris Smith cdsm...@gmail.com wrote: On Tue, 2011-08-30 at 20:58 +0200, Jerzy Karczmarczuk wrote: With all my respect: I think I know several mathematicians who learning that a person asking for help begins with trying to distinguish between knowledgeable, and those who just think they are, will simply - to say it politely - refuse to engage. I don't agree with this. It's the most natural thing in the world to listen to an answer and then try to figure out whether the speaker knows what they are talking about or not. Those who expect us to forego that step aren't really engaged in mathematics any more. -- Chris Smith ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe -- -- Regards, KC ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
Hi Andrew, I know of several places where I can ask maths questions and half a dozen people will take guesses at what the correct solution might be. I haven't yet found anywhere where I can say when would a chi-squared test be more appropriate than a KS test? and get an informed, knowledgeable answer. (Answers from people who /know/ what they're talking about rather than just /think/ they know.) I believe this phenomenon is quite natural and easily explained. When you're asking a non-trivial question, hardly anyone just knows the correct answer -- especially when it comes to math. In order to answer your question, people have to dedicate time and effort to study the problem you're asking about. (Furthermore, formulating a coherent response is usually be a bit of an effort, too.) Now, a person who has profound knowledge of the subject you're asking about is not very likely to do this, because he is probably not going to learn anything in the process. Dedicating time and effort to studying your particular problem is not an appealing prospect. A person who has superficial understanding of the subject, however, is more likely to be fascinated by the problem, and consequently he is more likely to dedicate time and effort into formulating a response. In other words, even if Donald Knuth himself is reading the forum you're posting to, it doesn't mean that he is actually going to respond. On the other hand, if you're asking the right question, Donald Knuth just might respond to it, but not necessarily in the forum that you were originally asking in. Take care, Peter ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
Peter Simons : Now, a person who has profound knowledge of the subject you're asking about is not very likely to do this, because he is probably not going to learn anything in the process. Dedicating time and effort to studying your particular problem is not an appealing prospect. You might be right. You may be dead wrong... Some people like to teach, find some pleasure in explaining things they know, and find a pleasure in trying to be useful. But they might refuse, if they hear: ...if you are a real specialist and you know what you are talking about, tell me what is better, the chi-square test or (...). Knuth admitted that he had learnt a lot while teaching things he already knew. So did Feynman. And Landau. All the best. Jerzy K. ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
Use Usenet. sci.math, sci.math.research, and sci.logic are some of the best mathematics and logic resources on the internet. On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 1:34 AM, Andrew Coppin andrewcop...@btinternet.comwrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? (Apart from go visit the nearest university, that is.) __**_ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/**mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafehttp://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
[Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? (Apart from go visit the nearest university, that is.) ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
Possibly: http://math.stackexchange.com/ On 29 August 2011 10:34, Andrew Coppin andrewcop...@btinternet.com wrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? (Apart from go visit the nearest university, that is.) ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
The http://math.stackexchange.com/ for normal questions, http://mathoverflow.net/ for research level questions. Jack Henahan jhena...@uvm.edu == Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. -- Edsger Dijkstra == 398E692F.gpg Description: application/apple-msg-attachment On Aug 29, 2011, at 4:34 AM, Andrew Coppin wrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? (Apart from go visit the nearest university, that is.) ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
On 29 August 2011 09:34, Andrew Coppin andrewcop...@btinternet.com wrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? Apart from math.stackexchange.com and mathoverflow.net, which people have already mentioned, people often discuss mathematics on #haskell-blah on Freenode. Benedict ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
Re: [Haskell-cafe] Off-topic: Mathematics
There's also #math on freenode, but it's a scary wilderness. On 29 August 2011 13:34, Benedict Eastaugh ionf...@gmail.com wrote: On 29 August 2011 09:34, Andrew Coppin andrewcop...@btinternet.com wrote: This is fairly wildly off-topic but... does anybody know of a good forum where I can ask questions about mathematics and get authoritative answers? Apart from math.stackexchange.com and mathoverflow.net, which people have already mentioned, people often discuss mathematics on #haskell-blah on Freenode. Benedict ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe ___ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
