Another reason why the educational system sucks.

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I just taught myself a model for doing the math of more complex logrithms, and before I was able to do that I developed an understanding and ability to visualize what is happening and why logs work. I do not however understand exactly why eulers constant works, and obviously things like Pi and " i ".

So with that... I am on my fifth semester of college, where I started with a 3.932 the first semester, then 3.4 second, 2.9 third. My G.P.A. was wiped clean after I transferred to MTU with a Forestry major, which I had applied as a crutch basically. That semester (4th) = withdrew from biology, failed pre-calc, and got C's in my other classes. Then this semester I was thinking that dropping out would be likely, due to lack of interest.

And now I'm in the current semester. I've never taken chemistry before, but I taught myself, in the past three months, all the basics and concepts up to a 2nd year level. While doing that I also ended up understanding all the math in chem, and even writing my own formulas and methods for solving the problems. Notice anything odd yet?

So I talk with my friends from calc 1 and calc two and try to get some info on the concepts in their classes to help me out and confirm my work. AND NONE OF THEM EVEN KNOW WHAT LOGARITHMS EVEN DO. So I am shocked, and confused, and end up probing deeper, because clearly they misunderstood me. I figured that they though I was asking exactly why things like euler's constant works as it does, or something... but no, they had no idea how to describe any of it.

This leads me back to my life long theory that the way we are taught is an unfair tactic and an embarrassment. Our students are not learning anything... they are simply memorizing how to plug symbols and numbers into formulas that they memorized. And even once they get to college in their harder classes they are then mildly introduced to the underlying meanings of the symbols, and what they are actually saying. So while I can teach myself all this crap, then confirm it with the few people I know in the chemistry department that know what they are doing... somehow I still manage to get bad grades in pre-calc for not showing my work, or for not writing what they want me to, even if I get the right answer.

And half those exams are just testing to see if you know how to apply the very VERY basics... which means nothing to me since my methods for solving them are totally alien. However, now that I know this I can at least adapt my method and be able to recognize what their method is representing... regardless of ability to solve in their method. Meaning that, regardless of ability and understanding of the concept I will still have to force myself to pointlessly learn.

I feel like a lifelong baker who is being forced to go to culinary school and learn to do it their way, explain it their way, and fail if he cannot. And where your grade is not based on the quality of your product, or even your ability to understand it... but instead based on how well you can make it look like everyone elses.

K, rant over... sorry if I sound arrogant or something... but I've been saying this for years and everyone just rolled their eyes or accused me of being lazy or dumb. So all of that time I mostly tried to do it their way and hate it. It was extremely depressing and got to where I accepted that I wasn't that smart... and all of those years were totally f'n wasted not learning a damn thing. Thats at least SIX ^*@%*^!*! YEARS where I accomplished 1/100th of what I could have. It took me about 30 hours to understand logs and develop this model + apply it to chemical kinetics and confirm it. And it took me 2 1/2 months to learn all the principals of chem. So yeah... I've almost got all the feathers that have been stuck up my ass pulled out, and nobody can yell and tell me I am a chicken. Of course all those people that stuck feathers up my ass all these years are now bitter and annoyed when I even so much as speak of science or math, and how I can do it now. Not even so much as a f**king apology or even acknowledgment. I may as well have been stuck in a comfortable prison where learning anything or being different was strictly forbidden for the last six years.

totally understand. My thing is ancient world. I took history classes before and understood none of it because we are no longer taught the fundamental behind the memory work.

When I read half a "Great BOoks reading list" is about a year, suddenly it all made sense. And that was just skimming the top. I aced history classes and lit classes and phil classes et al after that. Even math was easier after Euclid.

So then I began to go deeper. Instead of just the Great Books, I wentb ack further and further into ancient texts and lots of them. THen languages. AND I discovered the bases for even our religious practices not to mention almost everything else. etc. A straight succession of almost all our beliefs and ideologies.

Then when I studied the languages, I learned grammar in earnest. It's just too much to even explain, but I know you will understand.

After 12 years of study, I am not sure I cold ever go back to the vile way we are "educated."

You should ask around the department and see if there are any more forgiving professors. Honestly, at the college level, it shouldn't matter how you got the answer, so long as it's the right one and you can explain it to other people.

And I know exactly what you mean how the school system fails us... All I learned in high school, literally, was how to talk to people and socialize. And yes, I failed all my classes for not doing the busy work.

Yeah... but my plan is to prove it without a logical question, then let other people try to implement the ideas in a cost effective way. I tend to have zero interest finalizing a product once I understand it, but that also doesn't do anywhere near as much good, even if I can explain it with ease to others. The key is to just do enough so that others understand it and can reproduce it, then let the chain reaction happen.

Imagine how much more progressive our country would be if we didn't have people like myself doing odd jobs and sh** and not doing things in the sciences because of their aversion to the no questions asked " do it this way " method. I mean I've nearly failed out of college, and I would have if not for the absolute chance of me adding chemistry because I only had 11 credits, and financial aid required 12... so I threw on chem in a " f*** it " manner because it fit best with my sleep schedule.

Either way... when I do things at the colleges/systems pace I get so bored that I would rather take an F than waste my time. And my grades in no way represent my skill or ability. They probably never will... at least not until it gets to a point where I do need the help of others to understand the material, in which case I would have to do it as everyone else does, since jumping all over would become impossible. Like how I am failing pre-calc currently, for the second time, while doing math that calc 2 students can't even describe. I could get the grade in pre-calc, but all I would be doing is memorizing the pattern formulated for how the founders decided to set it up. And from that I would only remember the problems where it was applied to reality.

So yeah... my goal is to stay in college, produce more proof, apply this, and make a better way........but I'm still pissed at having been ' yelled at ' for not being like everyone else and doing everything the normal way. I can't get those six years back

I am going to try. I found that the calc/math in general professors tend to treat me like everyone else when I try to explain things. It's like their logic is, " Okay, I have a PhD in math, and I don't believe what you are saying, and refuse to hear you out". And even if they try to hear you out it's like they really really REALLY want you to be wrong, and if they don't get it they dismiss it as something other than what it is. Like a dumb over complex way to rearrange things and do them.




Haha... yeah, my high school time was spent almost being arrested most of the time. And not going to school the rest of the time. And there's no way that put more than 30 hours into studying for exams over the course of 4 years. I did the absolute minimum to get by, and ended up with a 2.25 cumulative. The key is that I sort've always knew that I was right about how everything was useless. Considering that I have yet to complete the 6th, 7th and 8th grade, along with whats been proving itself lately.

Welcome to my world. Even if you can do something and explain it you get it wrong because the method your using is not the norm.

Example I'm the 1st Tech Coordinator the school has ever that knew a bit about executing VBScripts that make my job easier. It take me weeks to preside that school board trhat my methods of handlng a Server with WS 2003 waa far more efficent, money-saving and time-saving.

3-Hours every night learning scriping and caculous to make my job easier and initually getting critized for my actions because.

A] Most techs before me just clean up the workstations manually to fix a problem. Completely ignoring that fact the Remote Assistence has been around since NT 4.0

B] If i unsolvable problem arises they call the school board, microsoft, cisco, dell or mcafee before they do anything to fix it

C] Its easier for the Formal Techs to use faulty Static IP's other than Dynamic. Greately reducing the speed of the server as well as creating problems with the domain.

Well that my 15-Second rant!! !! Hope it makes you feel better!! !!