Mathletics: The Bane of Simple Reasoning

Maybe it's just me, and the fact that I didn't go into a math related field of study or profession. As a young child, I was subject to a lot of various math competitions, such as Math Olympiads, and I went to a lot of various classes ("summer programs") which my parents enrolled me in to improve my math and problem solving abilities. The word problems hence were designed to be tricky and convoluted in the methodology of solving it. It's effective in enabling the student to handle high capacity mental challenges, and complicated calculations and logical trains of thought. However, the problem with that is, that it conditions the student also (at least it did for me) to always look for the complicated answer first. The nature of the problems always encourages students to try the complicated or "hard" way first because the painfully and obviously "easy" way is always wrong or doesn't work. Better to start with the convoluted method that almost always guarantees a sensible answer of some sort than the simple method that potentially could result in a dead end.

I don't know, this is sort of an epiphany to me I guess... It is I suppose in the light of taking the GMATs, the math isn't really very difficult, but I feel like I would be doing better on it if it were. The problem that is created is that Math Olympiads and problems of the sort promote over-thinking of exceptionally simple problems. This perhaps explains why some exceptionally brilliant mathematical minds seem to always underperform when it comes to standardized testing. I'm not by any means saying that my mind exudes mathematical brilliance, far from it, I believe I have a very average notion of mathematics and things of the sort. However, having grown up with this kind of problem solving training, I definitely believe that my initial reaction or move to solve any problem is to make it more complicatd than necessary.

In conclusion: mathletics isn't necessarily bad, certainly there are merits to being a mathlete, and benefits in scholastic achievement. However, make sure you supplement it with simple problem solving too. Otherwise, don't be overly surprised if the SATs or something sometimes seem like its jipping you out of something.

I Think I Like Writing

I do, I really do.

Ever since getting on the blog scene, I've been pretty content with doing this sort of stuff fairly regularly, enough so that I've casually considered a career shift that would enable me to get paid to do something like this. Wouldn't that be swell. The problem in and of itself, I suppose, most often isn't necessarily the desire to write, I'd have a new post every other hour if I could, but the simple fact of the matter is that I don't really have that much to write about sometimes. I suppose it's something rather natural, something known as "writers' block". It happens to me fairly frequently, and thus I don't have anything to come out with. Specifically though, I like this form of communicative writing that enables to me to in a sense "converse" with people through the screen. One of the quirks (I like to think of it as a quirk) is that the way in which I write is something that I would actually say to people. I hope that it reads more like something of a conversation than anything of an academic work or something. Of course, it could just be the case that my conversation is always stodgy and uptight.

It's not that I haven't tried the whole writing thing before, I've actually made a foray at attempting to write a novel, specifically in the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, my narrative is somewhat lacking and my ideas a little unoriginal, so that didn't go very far. As you few readers who look through this blog have realized, I don't really have all that much to write about content wise, hence the lack of posts. My NBA blog I update extensively and regularly, though I don't know that I'll be anything of an expert nor would I be anywhere near I think getting paid to do that. Likewise for cooking, sans the regular updating thing.

All in all, I think I've found another thing I like, but I don't know that I could make a living of it. I've pondered the option of journalism, but that would require me to go back and redo school, which is something I don't know if I'm necessarily inclined to do, or maybe supplement with something of a communications focus, perhaps that's another option. However, I don't know that I'd be a very good columnist save for an opinion article here and there. It hasn't been explored extensively, but then again, I don't know that many of my hobbies and viable career options have been.

So, yeah, in conclusion; I like writing, I just don't have a lot to write about sometimes. I think.

I Don't Get "Professional Writing"

So, I don't mean professional writing in the sense of like authors who write books, or journalists who write news columns or anything in the sense that your writing is what makes you money. What I do mean, though, is the whole idea of how to write a professional looking document with all the fancy language and the non-use of personal identifiers, and how it has to "sound professional". Basically, like all those papers we had to write for school. This comes in light of my studying for the GMATs and doing a review on the essay section.

Maybe there's a certain merit to looking all polished and such, but given the context of the GMAT the purpose is primarily for communication anyways. Sure, I'd be less inclined to utilize slang, and such terminology, but I'm a little baffled by all this pretense. Why can't I write it like I write this blog? I probably communicate just as if not more effectively this way, and if people were to come talk to me about whatever it is I'm writing about, then I'd probably explain things the way I'm explaining them now. I don't get it.

That's my gripe for the day, I'm done. It's just how things work, and I suppose I have to deal.