Engineer- OR, Mathematician test

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message
om...
In article , B J Conner
wrote:

Well that wasn't good, amusing or intellectual - now wonder people
report
you to your ISP
Another drunk irishman with a rhyming dictionary, boring at best.

This is the umpteenth piece of abuse from a roffian aimed at someone's
nationality. Sadly, I think, all of it has come from Americans, aimed
at other nationalities.


Here in the U.S. you can tell a lot about the social standing of various
ethnic, national, economic, religious and other groups by common reactions
to stereotypes and, more particularly, humor based on stereotypes
concerning
the members of such groups. Swedes and Norwegians (remember Ole and
Lena?)
are the butt of a lot of jokes in Minnesota.....Finns in Michigan's upper
peninsula.....etc. The Irish were an especially large immigrant group who
dispersed more widely in the U.S. than most others. Interestingly, the
odds
are typically very good that persons telling such jokes include the butts
among their ancestors. There are exceptions of course. When the common
reaction to such humor among the population as a whole is disapproving
it's
a safe bet that the group in question has not yet "arrived" at social
equality. Disparaging jokes about groups lumped together as "Arabic" are
common these days. Regardless of the body of evidence suggesting that
such
are met with near universal approval, this is simply not so. Most of us
are
a lot more tolerant and thoughtful than the vocal minority make apparent.

Every year at about this time, tens of millions of people in America.....a
great many more than immigration records would support.....suddenly
rediscover (if only for a few days) their Irish roots. The Irish suffered
horrible discrimination due to prejudice here during the years of their
great diaspora. Today, nobody much gives a ****. Meanwhile, most of
those
millions find St. Patrick's Day celebrations sufficient reason to go out
and
get drunk. Whatever.

Anyway......Conner......hm......what the hell kinda name is that, anyway?

Wolfgang
pretzel bender to the stars.



"I don't care who calls who a sonofabitch, but I won't stand for anyone
calling someone an English sonofabitch or an American sonofabitch."
(Ike)

Lazarus

--
Remover the rock from the email address

It would be nother irish or soctch -irush, It doesn't matter unless your
overly senstiive.

An Irishman walking along the shore notices an old lamp lying among the
rocks. He picks it up, rubs the dirt off of it and a genie comes out of the
lamp. The genie tells the Irishman he
will grant him three wishes. The Irishman says "Well first off, I'd like a
bottle of Guiness that never goes dry". "Done" says the genie, and the
Irishman is holding a bottle of Guiness.
The Irishman promptly drinks it down and watches in delight as it magically
fills back up. Again he drinks it down and watches it fill up. A third time
he drinks it down, and by now the
genie is becoming impatient. "So what do you want for your other two
wishes"? askes the irritated genie. "Oh", replies the Irishman, "Just give
me another two bottles like this one".







IT must m

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Lat705" wrote in message
...
She, surprised, responded that she had finished that in
her freshman year.

High School?

It's been a lot of years since I read that anecdote. I can't be
certain,
but I don't think that question was answered. At any rate, I'd venture
to
guess that Mr. Einstein was more surprised and impressed by being in the
presence of such a prodigy than either Myron or Ken would be.

Possibly so, however I had heard it that Mr. Einstein stated that he
studied
Physics. In any case, a quick google search didn't verify it.

In the version I read it was most definitely algebra. That is specifically
why I remembered it and, I think, an important consideration in the point of
the anecdote......the co-ed, the reader is left to suppose, was vapid, and
Einstein was being wry. This works well with something as mundane and
accessible to EVERYONE as algebra, but is a bit more abstruse when something
as formidable (in the public eye) as physics is substituted. Not to put too
fine a point on it, but I think your reaction and Ken's bear this out. Also
present (perhaps....and however subtle) is the suggestion that the great man
himself saw algebra as something worthy of a lifetime of study even by one
so presumably well versed in the subject as he himself must surely have
been.....a position probably shared by many professional mathemeticians if
not, necessarily, by math teachers and free lance writers. Moreover, many
thousands of high school and college freshmen (as well as your humble
narrator) consider algebra to be as worthy and formidable as anything they
wish to encounter, not excluding composition, physical education, civics,
philosophy or logic.

Meanwhile, in my 13 year career as a math teacher, I have only encountered
two students astute enough to have completed Advanced Algebra in or before
their freshman year (in high school),

The Einstein story, as I read it, made no mention of what level of algebra
either of the principals was working on. The reader is left to surmise that
they weren't quite talking about the same critter......or that's the
impression I came away with, anyway.

and neither of them was particularly impressive.

It has been my experience that teachers of mathematics more than any other
subject tend to be confounded by the notion that students have not mastered
the course material by the time they show up for the first session.

A bit arrogant and pretentious was more like it.

There's a lot of that going around, I hear.

Wolfgang
so, snake, how's about them lit courses?

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...


Everyone missed the obvious. 0%. If you have three socks, you don't
have
a
pair.

Uh, uh. I've got a male Hershey bar. Give me four dollars, a red sock,
a
ticket to Portland, a female Hershey bar, a green sock, another male
Hershey
bar, two more green socks, all the amputated letters in the state of
Florida, a battle cry, a digital camera, and I've STILL got a male
Hershey
bar. Go further, and give me all the male Hershey bars in the world,
and......SURPRISE!.....I've STILL got a male Hershey bar.


Yeah, but theres that old 'inclusive, exclusive' defintion going on. Or
are
you proposing that two pairs of threes doesn't beat three of a kind, since
its only two pairs....

--riverman
(could be a bluff, though)

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...


Everyone missed the obvious. 0%. If you have three socks, you don't
have
a
pair.

Uh, uh. I've got a male Hershey bar. Give me four dollars, a red sock,
a
ticket to Portland, a female Hershey bar, a green sock, another male
Hershey
bar, two more green socks, all the amputated letters in the state of
Florida, a battle cry, a digital camera, and I've STILL got a male
Hershey
bar. Go further, and give me all the male Hershey bars in the world,
and......SURPRISE!.....I've STILL got a male Hershey bar.


Yeah, but theres that old 'inclusive, exclusive' defintion going on. Or
are
you proposing that two pairs of threes doesn't beat three of a kind, since
its only two pairs....

--riverman
(could be a bluff, though)

Call. I got a pair of socks......and a sock. You?

Wolfgang

Nowadays how can you tell? How many people do you know with "Scot" as a
first
name taht are not Scotish?
Lou T

Given names? Most likely all of them.

--
Stev Lenon 91B20 '68-'69
Drowning flies to Dark Star

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/stevglo/i...age92kword.htm

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Lat705" wrote in message
...
She, surprised, responded that she had finished that in
her freshman year.

High School?

It's been a lot of years since I read that anecdote. I can't be
certain,
but I don't think that question was answered. At any rate, I'd
venture
to
guess that Mr. Einstein was more surprised and impressed by being in
the
presence of such a prodigy than either Myron or Ken would be.

Possibly so, however I had heard it that Mr. Einstein stated that he
studied
Physics. In any case, a quick google search didn't verify it.

In the version I read it was most definitely algebra. That is
specifically
why I remembered it and, I think, an important consideration in the point
of
the anecdote......the co-ed, the reader is left to suppose, was vapid, and
Einstein was being wry. This works well with something as mundane and
accessible to EVERYONE as algebra, but is a bit more abstruse when
something
as formidable (in the public eye) as physics is substituted. Not to put
too
fine a point on it, but I think your reaction and Ken's bear this out.
Also
present (perhaps....and however subtle) is the suggestion that the great
man
himself saw algebra as something worthy of a lifetime of study even by one
so presumably well versed in the subject as he himself must surely have
been.....a position probably shared by many professional mathemeticians if
not, necessarily, by math teachers and free lance writers. Moreover, many
thousands of high school and college freshmen (as well as your humble
narrator) consider algebra to be as worthy and formidable as anything they
wish to encounter, not excluding composition, physical education, civics,
philosophy or logic.

Meanwhile, in my 13 year career as a math teacher, I have only
encountered
two students astute enough to have completed Advanced Algebra in or
before
their freshman year (in high school),

The Einstein story, as I read it, made no mention of what level of algebra
either of the principals was working on. The reader is left to surmise
that
they weren't quite talking about the same critter......or that's the
impression I came away with, anyway.

and neither of them was particularly impressive.

It has been my experience that teachers of mathematics more than any other
subject tend to be confounded by the notion that students have not
mastered
the course material by the time they show up for the first session.

A bit arrogant and pretentious was more like it.

There's a lot of that going around, I hear.

Wolfgang
so, snake, how's about them lit courses?



i'm kickin their ass! "A"s on all my papers -
special bibliography projects included ;-)

Snake- thanks for askin

i'm kickin their ass! "A"s on all my papers -
special bibliography projects included ;-)

In the 70's and early 80's, if you were in a school that graded on the curve
and you walked into a class that was full of asians, many folks would bail.
The asians were kicking everyones butt (damn, doncha hate those folks with a
work ethic?). Now a days, same curve but you have to watch out for those
adults returning to school. They're not there to party, 'cause they know
that their future depends on what they can learn.
--
Frank Reid
Reverse email to reply

Wolfgang wrote:


Call. I got a pair of socks......and a sock. You?


hmmm... knew i shoulda kept those socks.

jeff

Wolfgang:
Don't look now, Sparky,

Sparky? Barney Google's horse or perhaps some radio operator from your Coast
Guard days?

Pretty much the only comic strips or books I ever gave much consideration
to originated behind the green door in a place called "The Shack." That'd
allow you one from each of six columns if you bring a Dragon Lady to dinner.


you haven't got a clue

Mr. Green, in the library, with the lead pipe.

Were you, perhaps, looking for Mr. Goodbar?

Nope, I prefer almonds.

OK, since repetition can be instructive.......I'm going to assume that you
had a point. Would you like to share it with the rest of us?

No! This is a thread at least touching on things mathematical. Go figure!


--
Stev Lenon 91B20 '68-'69
Drowning flies to Dark Star

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/stevglo/i...age92kword.htm

"slenon" wrote in message
m...

...This is a thread at least touching on things mathematical...

From the moment you stepped in through that door, I just KNEW we were going
to have fun together!

Wolfgang
whew!