Maths
So I'm starting to get wierdly enthusiastic about math. Neil Stephenson is partially to blame of course... his new book is a lot better at imparting mathematical wisdom to the uninitiated than Cryptonomicon was, though I'm sure the new one's concepts are much simpler.
It led me to look into the basic definitions of Calculus, becuase I wasn't sure exactly where one drew the line between that body of math and the others. That search led me to a conclusion a few others have drawn of me over the years, though I never quite dared to believe them when they said it; "I see that you hate algebra, but you'd probably love calculus."
Me: "Buuuuuuullllllll-SHIT!" Calculus is just harder math! That's all it could be!
and in some sence of course, it is... but the beauty of it to me lies in its lack of concern with specificity. Discussions on how to classify that fuzzy group of numbers we call infinitesemals can lead in all sorts of interesting directions, and at no point at the end of it can someone tap you on the shoulder and go "well you've got the right idea but the answer is 2.3 not 2.4" and make you feel stupid.
Best of all, this interest in calculus is making me want to go back and get a better grip on a lot of that basic math. I don't have a direction with this, I don't plan to make a career of it, but if I can do it just for the enjoyment of it, I wanna.
It led me to look into the basic definitions of Calculus, becuase I wasn't sure exactly where one drew the line between that body of math and the others. That search led me to a conclusion a few others have drawn of me over the years, though I never quite dared to believe them when they said it; "I see that you hate algebra, but you'd probably love calculus."
Me: "Buuuuuuullllllll-SHIT!" Calculus is just harder math! That's all it could be!
and in some sence of course, it is... but the beauty of it to me lies in its lack of concern with specificity. Discussions on how to classify that fuzzy group of numbers we call infinitesemals can lead in all sorts of interesting directions, and at no point at the end of it can someone tap you on the shoulder and go "well you've got the right idea but the answer is 2.3 not 2.4" and make you feel stupid.
Best of all, this interest in calculus is making me want to go back and get a better grip on a lot of that basic math. I don't have a direction with this, I don't plan to make a career of it, but if I can do it just for the enjoyment of it, I wanna.