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Because some people speak "geek" and some don't, there is a huge communication gap. Geeks
understand the things in terms of "geek-speak", but they don't understand that the rest of the world
has different experiences than they do, and that we don't all speak geek.
You know the syndrome - it's like the computer geek who is going to "help" you with something.
He's going to go into the unix shell and explain all the coding to you, but you just want to cut and
paste the thing.
Or it's the guy who's going to"help" you install your satellite dish. By the time you listened to him
tell you all the things he knows about the detailed workings of things you don't care about, it would
have been less effort to do it without his help.
In math, or math education, the lead language is algebra, which lots of geeks understand, but they
don't get it that not everyone else speaks algebra. So geeks end up saying things like, "Now that
you've seen the (unintelligible to you) proof, you know fully why it works." Yeah, some people do,
and some don't.
What geeks don't understand, though, is that algebra is more or less just a language. It is not the
reason why something works or doesn't work, really, it's just the language they use to explain the
reason. Plain english can explain the reason as well, it just takes longer. Algebra is pretty much
just shorthand. Because geeks "get" this shorthand, they've forgotten that other people don't, and
they don't see the reason to expend the effort to rethink it so they can explain it in plain English.
That's the dilemma that I like to try to solve with Math Mojo. I used to "suck at math," until I made
up my mind to get a handle on it. I found out that it's nowhere near as boring as a lot of teachers
and geeks seem to make it. I'm not a geek, but I "get" geeks, and I'm not a dummy anymore, but I
"get" dummies. Now I try to be a liaison between the two with Math Mojo.
One of my aims is to subtly get the readers to see that they can understand the algebra if it is
made plain to them in their own language first. Then they slowly have their "lightbulbs go on" and
realize that algebra is not some intimidating "geek-speak", it is simply a shorthand for what we
already understand. It doesn't necessarily explain things, but it always describes things.
What geeks don't get is that if someone doesn't speak algebra, they can't understand the
description, so it doesn't explain anything to them. It's like when Robinson Crusoe tries to
communicate to Friday in English, and Friday doesn't get it. So what does Crusoe do? He speaks
louder. That's what geeks more or less do. How smart can they really be, then?
It's the human geeks like Carl Sagan, de Grasse Tyson, Isaac Asimov, and the king of them all,
Martin Gardner, who know how to talk to both worlds, who are really going to save us, if we can be
saved at all, I think.
My message is exactly the opposite of the feeling I used to have that math is boring, unintelligible,
and unsatisfying. It's ironic that sometimes the more you know (geek), the less you understand
(about relating it to others). That is what is unsatisfying.
The real message is that it can be extremely satisfying to understand deeper things, as well as
understand that, although you are unique, the ability to understand is not. (Almost) anyone can
understand things if you understand the human relationship to understanding knowledge as well.
If you are learning something, and sometimes you don't understand the explanations even though
you are truly trying, don't beat yourself up about it.
Remember, there is a higher percentage of teaching-disabled teachers than learning-disabled
students. Don't blame yourself. Don't blame anyone. Just see if you can identify the problem, and
find a way to deal with it in your language, or find a way to learn the language that is more
compatible with the problem you are dealing with.
Math is something that you are going to have to deal with, like it or not, for the rest of your life. So
you might as well learn as much as you can about it. The more you dig in, the more you'll find
things to like about it.
If you'd like a good resource about understanding math, try MathMojo.com.
For a good example of the "geek-speak" dilemma, see the comic and thoughts about it at Learn
Math despite Geek Speak
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Foley
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I have been trying to get the word out about this amazing software that has changed my life.
please check out this site today. you won't regret it.
dyscalculiatest.org
==== ====