[séamuis]

In HS, I went on a road trip with some friends for spring break and one of the girls in the car (a blonde of course) pondered as we were driving up a mountain how it was possible that the car's compass read south when we were going up.

some people really are dense. but then that could just be a product of not needing to learn basics of navigation, map and compass reading to get along in society, much less for day to day survival. but I suppose you could argue that to be common sense as well. like asking how a river can flow north.

[patrick9]

In HS, I went on a road trip with some friends for spring break and one of the girls in the car (a blonde of course) pondered as we were driving up a mountain how it was possible that the car's compass read south when we were going up.

I thought everyone knew up was north. Thanks for the laugh I needed it

[tuco]

Okay, how may people think the units for weight (= a force) is grams or kilograms? You see it printed everywhere. Many just accept it because they grew up hearing it and don't know the hidden inference. The girl in the video either is just a show or just doesn't understand units ( the mile/hour thing) much like the example I gave. So I'm not too shocked at her response.

Hint:

weight = (mass)x(9.81 meter/sec²) at sea level or any other altitude you'd care to live at.

[riff]

Yeah she is a clever girl, walmart can hire her for $10.00 per hour and pay her $40.00 per 8 hour shift. (by her math)

No one has commented on the husband, he married her, who is the dumb one?

[magkelly]

You know not everybody can do math all that easily in their heads. I can sit there and do the books for a store with several employees and I'm fine but algebra and word equations are just plain beyond me. I'm extremely literate. I was reading college level text books and even medical manuals easily by the time I was in middle school. I can read almost anything I need to and understand it. I aced most school subjects sans any real studying involved even in college, but higher math, anything beyond your basic business math? It makes me feel like a dumb duck and I've had every advantage, tutors etc try to help me.

I've got something called Dyscalculia and it's severe. It has totally wrecked my life in a way. It's a bit like having dyslexia only it's with math concepts? I literally got every class I needed to get a 4 year degree done except for the 4 math courses and the 2 science courses that I unfortunately needed math prerequisites to do. I could have aced the science, always have, but I couldn't actually take it because sans the algebra I just could not meet the degree and science course requirements.

I had tutors. I had computer programs. I had a math therapist working with me and it just didn't help. In the end the 2 schools I went to wouldn't give me a pass and let me take non math courses to make up for it like they apparently used to do years ago. They knew I had a severe learning disability, had given it my all, and they just didn't care. That I could have gotten my degree otherwise and that I was an advanced nearly all A's student otherwise didn't matter one iota to them. In the end I totally flunked algebra 3X and they wouldn't let me take it again or try to finish my BFA without it. 25K in the hole, 48K almost now with all the interest, 3 1/2 years of studying, and I have no actual degree because in almost every school in this country the math is what makes or breaks your college career in the end. The really stupid thing of course is that I don't even need the algebra to do the job I wanted to do.

The really insane thing is I'm still paying for it. I'm so screwed financially because of it it's absurd. I truly wish I'd just skipped the whole college idea completely and just taken a good photography course to begin with. If I had? I wouldn't have to worry about my head practically exploding with stress every time a bill collector phones about my freakin student loans. But not being too bright with the math I get. It doesn't necessarily mean you're generally stupid. But it can sure make people think you are and worse yet it can really screw up your life if you're just not capable of getting it....

[Lloydy]

Mag, I also have dyscalculia. I went through school branded as 'stupid' - then decided to become an engineer, because I love mechanical things. There's a lot of maths in engineering, which I couldn't do - unless I had the formula and a calculator. I could understand the concept and theory of something, but not the numbers part of it. I can't even remember my home phone number and it's been the same for 40 years. I can't add together a simple column of numbers or calculate the change in a shop.
But I can estimate the result of most things with surprising accuracy, because I understand the concept. Something that girl doesn't seem able to do.

All my number related tasks are done by estimation and 'pictures' in my mind of what I'm dealing with - that's a crappy description, but it's hard to describe how I see 'quantity'.
It's the same with photography, even after 40 years of interest and using SLR's I have no idea about the sequence of f stops and speeds, I just know the reasons for having them and know how they relate to each other. It's also why I almost exclusively use manual focus lenses on manual settings, I get to visualise the image, and make changes, before I press the shutter. With an AF lens and using Auto I have no concept of what the camera display tells me because it's showing me numbers. The camera telling me what f stop it's chosen is no use to me, I want to see if there's a big hole for a small DoF or a small hole for larger DoF.

The girl in the video had no concept, or at least very little, of the 'problem' - then compensated for that by over complicating the whole thing. Very interesting.

[mikemike]

I've got something called Dyscalculia and it's severe. It has totally wrecked my life in a way. It's a bit like having dyslexia only it's with math concepts

I have the opposite learning disability, Dysgraphia. It makes handwriting and transcription quite laborious for me so it always gave me trouble in school (mainly grammar school and high school) whenever I needed to write something. It was especially difficult to do well on math assignments because I would always make transcription errors going from one line to the next and if I used that to actually try and solve the problem the way I was being taught to solve the problem, I would usually get it wrong. To cope I had to learn to do all kinds of math - from arithmetic to square roots and calculus - in my head. The biggest problems came in middle school and early high school when I quit trying to do the work their way and just did it my way, I would be accused of cheating because I would write down a correct answer without showing any work. It got even worse when I tried to make the teacher happy by working the problem out, writing down the correct answer then writing down the intermediate steps to show work because "the work" I was showing would usually be wrong and it would be crammed in as I had already written the answer down. And I didn't do much homework either because it was just too much writing for too little reward.

Luckily in college, they weren't obsessive about process or turning in sheets of homework everyday and they were fine with any amount of work or process as long as you got the right answer.

[Rupert]

I showed the video to Mrs Rupert last night, and she was fairly accurate at guessing the responses posted here......(I sure didn't show her mine!)
Her response..."you guys should be thankful for girls like this, without them most of you dickheads would be forever single".

I don't argue with Otis or Mrs Rupert, and not necessarily in that order.

Regards!

[metaglypto]

@ magkelly and Lloydy ~

I know I (and her husband) am being a little mean about this, but it seems like she does not, or will not grasp the concept of "per", as in "milers per hour". I am pretty sure she is not actually stupid. Sometimes people just try and over think things, or for whatever reason have a brain fart and do not grasp something at a particular time. Maybe she just woke up from a nap. I still think it is funny, and I wonder why is she arguing with him if she isn't getting it. It seems like he even tries to explain the concept of "per" to her and she wants to argue.

At any rate I hope you are not offended. Now that you have brought up the condition of "dyscalculia", I have never heard of that, I wonder if I may have that. I have always struggled with numbers, even multiplication tables I struggled with. Also, with long columns of numbers and carrying numbers so even some addition as well. I wonder if that is my problem, or part of it. Actually, as I listened to her, I recognized some of her reasoning as the way I try and figure things out in my own head. One big difference between her and I is age. She is obviously less than 30, I am 58. I have a lot more experience figuring out workarounds to my inability to do math.

[metaglypto]

Rupert said, "Her response..."you guys should be thankful for girls like this, without them most of you dickheads would be forever single". ROFL

Well said, and so true. My wife is the best investment I ever made. BTW, 31 years yesterday, and not a day has gone by that she has not regretted it!

[dgaies]

No one has commented on the husband, he married her, who is the dumb one?

He might not have married her for her math skills

[normhead]

Reminds me of over-seeing the installation of a computer lab. At one point I saw the guys leaving and asked what was up. They were network technicians, computer geeks, and didn't know how to run a cable through the ceiling over a door. So they installed 18 drops in a 30 computer lab and left. I went down to my principal and explained the situation. I said " they only put down 18 drops, we need 30". She looked at me and said " Could you phone IT and explain it to them, I don't understand these things with numbers. She was a Ph.D, in education.

[mikemike]

She is obviously less than 30, I am 58. I have a lot more experience figuring out workarounds to my inability to do math.

If you are aging at the rate of 1 per year, we might need to knock your age in half. Do you drive a stick or an automatic? A truck or car? I will guesstimate that you are really 29.

[metaglypto]

Actually if the car is traveling 80 mph, then the very top of the tire is traveling at 160 mph, while the bottom of the tire is not moving at all. So that means my head moves faster than my feet, right?

[magkelly]

Mag, I also have dyscalculia. I went through school branded as 'stupid' - then decided to become an engineer, because I love mechanical things. There's a lot of maths in engineering, which I couldn't do - unless I had the formula and a calculator. I could understand the concept and theory of something, but not the numbers part of it. I can't even remember my home phone number and it's been the same for 40 years. I can't add together a simple column of numbers or calculate the change in a shop.
But I can estimate the result of most things with surprising accuracy, because I understand the concept. Something that girl doesn't seem able to do.

All my number related tasks are done by estimation and 'pictures' in my mind of what I'm dealing with - that's a crappy description, but it's hard to describe how I see 'quantity'.
It's the same with photography, even after 40 years of interest and using SLR's I have no idea about the sequence of f stops and speeds, I just know the reasons for having them and know how they relate to each other. It's also why I almost exclusively use manual focus lenses on manual settings, I get to visualise the image, and make changes, before I press the shutter. With an AF lens and using Auto I have no concept of what the camera display tells me because it's showing me numbers. The camera telling me what f stop it's chosen is no use to me, I want to see if there's a big hole for a small DoF or a small hole for larger DoF.

The girl in the video had no concept, or at least very little, of the 'problem' - then compensated for that by over complicating the whole thing. Very interesting.

This made me laugh a bit. The home phone # that's me too. 30 years with the same phone for my folks and I still have to sit there and look it up on the cell or a piece of paper every time someone asks me. I don't calculate DOF and such via formulas. I've basically got a cheat sheet that I worked from books and with my teachers of the perfect settings to get what I want under what circumstances. That little DOF/aperture calculator on my Cruz pad it's a freakin godsend. I can calculate the change from money and I can add up columns with a calculator and figure out say the gross vs net sales for a shop for a day but if I have to put down some flooring, figure out square feet or figure out yardage materials for sewing I can get into major trouble. I usually buy lots of extra material just in case so I don't end up with too little if I end up cutting wrong. I hate sewing patterns, directions for things like crochet and knitting. If I take apart an item in my head to copy it, try to figure it all out visually as shapes, I can make a copy of a shirt or whatever and usually get it right. If I try to do it from a pattern, calculating properly I will usually screw it up. Same thing with home projects. I've put my bookcases and grills together by eying the pieces but using actual official directions can be a lesson in frustration.

Even with a formula and a T calculator there in front of me I can really screw things up. Word problems surprisingly are not much help either. I'm not too sure I can calculate MPH and how long it would take, how much gas etc if someone asks me. That kind of word problem used to completely stump me in college. I didn't get the formulas very well but I didn't get those word ones either which always surprised me as I'm so good with language things otherwise. I'm sitting here literally learning 3 languages via computer but I simply can't do a job in engineering or computer programming et all. I seem to be completely wired for reading and language but not for maths. I can sit there and read a wordy 500 page book in a time frame that simple boggles the mind of most people watching me but put a page of algebra problems in front of me and I'd be there all day and likely I'd never get it all done or most of it right.