(I'm kidding, internet being what it is I figure I best mention that.)
My mother-in-law is among other things a retired math-teacher for the lower grades which of course means she's got a degree in math because in her day /all/ teachers had degrees in their subjects, and this was way before the…
(I'm kidding, internet being what it is I figure I best mention that.)
My mother-in-law is among other things a retired math-teacher for the lower grades which of course means she's got a degree in math because in her day /all/ teachers had degrees in their subjects, and this was way before the academic inflation of degrees started.
Anyway, she's fond of remarking that /knowing/ math - how to and what operations to perform - and understanding /what/ you are actually doing are two separate things: most of us get by knowing how because we don't really need to do more than that in our daily lives. To teach it you must of course have both.
But "sci fi" is notoriously bad with numbers, even without any math attached. There's a Dr WHO episode where he hides Earth by moving it 150 000 miles. Sigh. They couldn't even look up it up, lazy writers.
Then there's Star Wars with its Kessel Run in 12 parsecs (and you can see Sir Alec Guiness rolling his eyes in the movie!).
Star Trek, too many to mention.
Babylon 5 did it right though: when asked about the speed of ships, the writer just remarked they move at P. P for Plot.
In my limited experience of people in the lest say creative fields of work, they are quite lazy, cognitively speaking - not stupid, just lazy.
Objection, your honour! Speculative anecdote!
(I'm kidding, internet being what it is I figure I best mention that.)
My mother-in-law is among other things a retired math-teacher for the lower grades which of course means she's got a degree in math because in her day /all/ teachers had degrees in their subjects, and this was way before the academic inflation of degrees started.
Anyway, she's fond of remarking that /knowing/ math - how to and what operations to perform - and understanding /what/ you are actually doing are two separate things: most of us get by knowing how because we don't really need to do more than that in our daily lives. To teach it you must of course have both.
But "sci fi" is notoriously bad with numbers, even without any math attached. There's a Dr WHO episode where he hides Earth by moving it 150 000 miles. Sigh. They couldn't even look up it up, lazy writers.
Then there's Star Wars with its Kessel Run in 12 parsecs (and you can see Sir Alec Guiness rolling his eyes in the movie!).
Star Trek, too many to mention.
Babylon 5 did it right though: when asked about the speed of ships, the writer just remarked they move at P. P for Plot.
In my limited experience of people in the lest say creative fields of work, they are quite lazy, cognitively speaking - not stupid, just lazy.
I guess they can't all be Kubrick or Bergman.