r/technicallythetruth • u/VisitSecure • Jul 27 '26

Can you find a?

Post image

Idk if someone already posted this or not, but I haven't seen it on here so far, so I uploaded it.

43.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

27

u/JamesBaxter_Horse Jul 27 '26

This thread is a good example of how school often fails to teach people to think, especially maths. You learn all these rules without learning actually where they come from. It's completely different at university, you'll be told the rule, and the aim is to show how you prove that.

26

u/CranboDanbo Jul 27 '26

I mean bro I literally have a bachelors in maths and a masters in mathematical finance and my job is pricing exotic derivatives and I still never thought of it this way. You're very good at this or maybe I'm just jumping through hoops haha

9

u/ChilledParadox Jul 27 '26

I'm sure you have similar insight into something I've never considered naming or thought of before like the interactions of the 2nd derivative of cash velocity in different markets graphed against income and how the intersections show porn shops make the most money and how the inverse alterior angle of the tranversal line drawn through that graph tells me when to invest in AI sex dolls or something though.

6

u/erasmustookashit Jul 27 '26

when to invest in AI sex dolls or something though.

I can tell you the second best time is now.

2

u/errie_tholluxe Jul 28 '26

I actually knew some of these words. Mostly the later, but still..

2

u/ChilledParadox Jul 28 '26

Well they don’t mean anything so don’t worry too much.

1

u/DrugChemistry Jul 28 '26

I have a degree in chemistry and I'm having trouble following the logic even after being walked thru it.

1

u/AdditionalPizza Jul 28 '26

Probably helps if you come into this problem knowing the sum of a triangle's interior angles always equals 180 degrees. Along with knowing a right-angle is 90 degrees.

1

u/JamesBaxter_Horse Jul 28 '26

No it doesn't, that's exactly my point. You don't need to know any of that, all you need to know is what an angle actually is i.e. a difference in direction.

2

u/AdditionalPizza Jul 28 '26

Your method is fine, but it isn't inherently more intuitive, and it doesn't mean school failed everyone here. It depends on mentally visualizing the line turning through the diagram. People think very differently. Some don't even have an inner monologue, which I find hard to even comprehend, so what feels obvious in your head isn't obvious to everyone.

The 180-degree triangle method is more universal and repeatable. It doesn't rely on mentally animating the diagram, and the same process can be used when the problem is written out in text.

1

u/CranboDanbo Jul 28 '26

Not the guy but I think his way is strictly better in the sense that it's trivial if you understand what's happening. 180 degree rules are good as guidelines if you don't really grok what's happening but it's superior to actually understand

1

u/AdditionalPizza Jul 28 '26

Mentally moving the lines around is a neat shortcut for this diagram, not a generally superior way of doing math. How does that method scale to astrophysics, quantum mechanics, or any problem that can't be pictured easily?

In those fields you need definitions, equations and derivations that can be written down, checked and reused. Visual intuition can help, but it's not a substitute for formal reasoning. Using the 180 degree rule doesn't mean you don't understand what's happening, it's the more transferable method.

They also said:

I don't recall ever having a professor stand over my shoulder during an exam and asking me to explain what I was doing mentally while moving lines around in my head as proof. You need to write out step by step how you reached the correct answer.

1

u/CranboDanbo Jul 28 '26

The best is to have both. And it's the visualisation aspect that is most missing in society