Stupid math

[Obsession 0]

Okey, this is probably really silly thing but am I only one who hates stupid math? I understand when something is 2 + 2 or 2 * 2 or X + 2Y = 3 etc.. There is only one way to really count what is the result. But I have allways hated questions like "Car travells 550 miles at speed of 100mph, when it will reach destination?" There is too much variables that can alter the result so it's not possible to know the real answer on question like that. What if the car even ever can go that far.. maybe there is a car crash and driver is killed and the car is on tow truck when it finaly reaches destination. That can take days. How you can use math on that? Could your really use math to determine when you arive at destination if you don't know how others in the traffic drives or how lights change at crossroads?

 

Reason why I brought up this is because I just made test in Facebook (add funny joke here about facebook and something about how accurate results usually are) where my math IQ was tested and on the last question went something like this (of course it was in Finnish so I have to translate it): "How long it takes to put lumber/tree into 12 pieces if sawing (if that's even a real word lol, not my best grammar and translater can't help me out here) it into 6 pieces takes 10 minutes" And I know the real answer to this question, because I'm working on a sawmill. And the answer is...... drum roll.... prrrrrrrrrrrr.. it depens how fast your sawmill line is. I can say for certain that if the pieces doesn't have to be same size, you can saw any amount of pieces in the same time. If you want 12 same size pieces, it depes on what type of sawmill you have. I have experiences on band saw and circular saw and the results vary too much to use math in real world.

 

Please tell me if you got similar facts to tell.. I certainly will use your experiences if I ever going to see such question and challenge theyr oppinion if it's right or wrong in math terms. I just believe in pure math that can tell the truth and not suspect things that aren't true.

Edited June 28, 2009 by gogoblender

[Knuckles 904]

Yup it's the difference between theoretical math and real life math. This is my favorite example showing the difference between the 2

 

If 6 crows are on a fence and you shoot one, how many are left ?

 

Theoretical Answer = 5

 

Real life answer = 0 (as soon as they heard the rifle fire they all flew away )

[Lord of the North 10]

Yup it's the difference between theoretical math and real life math. This is my favorite example showing the difference between the 2

 

If 6 crows are on a fence and you shoot one, how many are left ?

 

Theoretical Answer = 5

 

Real life answer = 0 (as soon as they heard the rifle fire they all flew away )

 

And then there is the wise a$$ math answer....... (as put forth by my wise a$$ 14 year old)

It depends on what one you were aiming at and how many were to it's left.

Edited June 29, 2009 by Lord of the North

[Sunfire 0]

Too funny LOTN.

Same answer I could expect from my 14 year old.

Jet

[gogoblender 3,072]

Ugh... Ob, no talking of math around me... that stuff gives me a genuine headache...though Sacred 2 seems to have taught me how to add up damage!

 

 

gogo

[gial 2]

If I have 4 oranges and you take 1, how many do you have?

 

Quick now. The answer isn't 3.

 

You have only the one -- I still have the other three.