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Post by Phaedrus on Jan 22, 2011 22:55:38 GMT -5
Well, it's been running amok for a while now. A friend of mine is teaching middle school math and she was explaining the idea of Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) on calculators, and one of the kids challenged her and asked her why she was being derogatory to Polish people. Stunning. Here is the definition on Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_polish_notation |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2011 23:20:12 GMT -5
How many Reverse Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb?
What? Are you kidding me? Have you ever tried to screw in a light bulb? That filament thing is a major turnoff.
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Post by paloalto on Jan 22, 2011 23:37:36 GMT -5
I think this might be a case of the young student not understanding the phrase rather than political correctness.
I am sure the teacher explained that the word Polish was used to give credit to the origin of the inventor.
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Post by Phaedrus on Jan 22, 2011 23:37:55 GMT -5
How many Reverse Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb? What? Are you kidding me? Have you ever tried to screw in a light bulb? That filament thing is a major turnoff. *Rimshot* |
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 22, 2011 23:43:37 GMT -5
I think this might be a case of the young student not understanding the phrase rather than political correctness. I am sure the teacher explained that the word Polish was used to give credit to the origin of the inventor. Agreed. All you have to do is explain that this is the name for it. |
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Post by BearClause on Jan 23, 2011 14:06:15 GMT -5
Just try and use the word "niggardly" these days.
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Post by TheSantaBarbarian on Jan 23, 2011 16:50:23 GMT -5
Being "offended" provides a lot of power in our society.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2011 14:41:20 GMT -5
I love my HP 48G. Other physics dorks were jealous.
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Post by BearClause on Jan 24, 2011 15:04:59 GMT -5
I love my HP 48G. Other physics dorks were jealous. I never learned how to use RPN, although I always liked the feel of HP calculators - especially the tactile feel of the buttons. I bought and used the HP 20S, which looked almost like the HP calculators with RPN but used standard notation. I had some people pick up mine and got a little puzzled when entering values as RPN. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2011 15:23:07 GMT -5
They also stare at amazement when they see my room has an abacus.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 24, 2011 16:07:12 GMT -5
I don't use a calculator at all. For anything simple, I just do the calculations myself. For anything complicated, that's why I have computers.
I do occasionally use the calculator programs on the computers, though.
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Post by goGopherBill on Jan 24, 2011 18:57:05 GMT -5
Math ..like higher education is so over blown.
While students try and figure out how and what button to press to investigate the problem..Common sense has already found the solution.
I wonder when electricity cost so much it is on vouchers how the world will ever get anything done.
We have lost thousands of jobs because people were tied to computers and trained into that 1 process.
Remove the process and that trained individual is useless.
So now we have whole industry's where the only job is to run a computer.
What a life.
Not.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 24, 2011 19:46:28 GMT -5
Math ..like higher education is so over blown. When you get on board an airplane, do you hope it was designed by people with higher educations who used math? Or do want to fly in one that was designed by some guy who just made something that "looked right" to him? |
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Post by BearClause on Jan 25, 2011 12:19:16 GMT -5
Math ..like higher education is so over blown. When you get on board an airplane, do you hope it was designed by people with higher educations who used math? Or do want to fly in one that was designed by some guy who just made something that "looked right" to him? Well - I've been reading Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. The author seemed to feel that part of the downfall of Salomon Brothers (the firm he briefly worked for) was that they were enamored with finding new employees who were graduates of the most prestigious schools, and that they forgot that their success was built upon employees who never went to college. Well - that and that perhaps it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time. |
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Post by goGopherBill on Jan 25, 2011 12:32:31 GMT -5
Mg..
We have thousand s studying astro physics while we starve here at home.
The ability of attending higher education means nothing if you cant or wont apply it.
I know many construction workers with masters in education.
What a deal.
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