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Understanding vs. Memorization
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aCol Offline
Distiller of hate

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Post: #1
Understanding vs. Memorization

So, guess which one is taught in school. It's memorization (duh - aCol, tell us something new...)

However, I've been studying today. It took me over two hours for one easy task. But not because I would be stupid or something. The problem lies way deeper than that.
I'll try to explain from the task. It's calculating interest fees.
So, let's say you have a capital of 1000$. You have a interest of 4.5% (UTOPIA!). You have 6 years of interest.
Every time you earn a interest in a year, it is added to your ground capital. This is then multiplied and added to the capital of before.


[I'll put the the task in here tomorrow, it's 11:49 pm here, and I am fucking tired]
This formula is Capital w/ interest = capital*interest fee^years
It seems they expect me to memorize the formula. That is why I couldn't solve the task. I tried to recreate it from understanding. But in school, I never was taught where the formula came from ("Just accept it as it is, it is too complicate to explain"). So, with never understanding it, and just using it, the task might be done quickly. But, in the unfortunate event of a test, I am sure to forget the formula. When I understood it, I usually try to recreate it. That worked often enough in the past.

Tl;dr: When you understand something, you can recreate the stuff that has to do with it, when you just memorize it and forget it for a while you're fucked. Also, if you try to understand stuff, you often get frustrated by people who only memorize. They talk bullshit often.

Maybe it would be better if teachers would actually explain where stuff comes from, and not expect students to follow blindly as cattle (or religious fundamentalists).

RIP GORE GOROTH

RIP GORE GOROTH

RIP GORE GOROTH
(This post was last modified: 04-23-2012 07:55 AM by aCol.)
04-23-2012 07:53 AM
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Dirtbikemike Offline
Balls denser than a White Dwarf

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Post: #2
RE: Understanding vs. Memorization

Similarly to how teachers explain WWI and WWII, there's a lot of "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED" but not how or why.

Balls of Steel:
Hidden stuff:
(01-13-2012 10:37 AM)UnschoolShqiponjë Wrote:  Mike you deserve an SS medal. Here, be proud:
[Image: BallsofSteel2.png]
Congrats for doing something I never had the balls to do.
If you have kids, save them from the bullshit you are forced to go through.
(01-25-2012 05:36 AM)UnschoolShqiponjë Wrote:  Balls of steel re-awarded. 
(02-07-2012 03:22 PM)flann Wrote:  Balls of Tungsten, now.

I found a picture for tungsten balls
http://bit.ly/xqd1zk

(02-14-2012 03:17 PM)Maelstrom Wrote:  Your balls are denser than white dwarf star matter.
(03-13-2012 08:27 PM)M3116 Wrote:  Balls of steel re-re-reawarded Nutter

(05-14-2013 03:01 PM)Prince Darkstar Wrote:  Dirtbikemike is the only guy I know of on here who won an argument with a teacher.
04-23-2012 11:58 AM
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magikarp Offline
Valerie Solanas

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Post: #3
RE: Understanding vs. Memorization

...It's not 'too complicated to explain', it's all but transparent. I think it's actually bad for your understanding for them to explain every little thing that is pretty obvious. But anyway,

Obviously interest for one year is:
starting_capital*interest_rate

Then the next year, you take the money from the first year and multiply it by the interest rate again:
(starting_capital*interest_rate)*interest rate

Then the next year:
((starting_capital*interest_rate)*interest_rate)*interest_rate

Now obviously in any of those cases:
interest_rate*interest_rate*...

Can be written as:
interest_rate^periods/years

And then the whole formula is what they gave you.

"Do we treat straight public sex differently than we do gay public sex? Of course. Straight people are so proud of their public sex that they named a cocktail after it."
04-24-2012 09:34 PM
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aCol Offline
Distiller of hate

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Post: #4
RE: Understanding vs. Memorization

Yeah I got that. However, they just gave us the formula. Not the way to the formula. And that is what kinda pisses me off. When I know the way how to obtain such a formula and I forget the formula, I can try to recreate it from what I know. When I only memorize the formula, but not know where it came from, there is no chance of recreation, because I wouldn't know enough and would end up tapping in darkness.
But I've always recognized school as institution of memorization, not understanding (30 Jan 1933 - what happened? ... never got a question "Why did the event of the 30th jan 1933 occur?").

If you really understand something you'll start to notice how much bullshit people speak. It isn't much different from school. Teachers are like "take this for granted and memorize it, you'll need it for the test". I don't say every fucking shit should be explained, stating out the obvious is a waste of time, but explaining it a bit in detail would be nice. Instead, I almost always get a "memorize dat".

RIP GORE GOROTH

RIP GORE GOROTH

RIP GORE GOROTH
04-25-2012 03:17 AM
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Hazarth Offline
braindead

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Post: #5
RE: Understanding vs. Memorization

I have to agree with you, some time ago I was programming a small game in C# when I realized I need to calculate a distance between two points in 2D space, now... how do you do that? So i started drawing on paper and obviously i used the sentence of pytagoras. And came up with a formula for how to calculate the distance... I didn't even look at the internet or anything... then, a week later, we learned this at school, but did the teacher tell us how we got to the formula?... NO... nobody knew it... We were told to memorize this formula because it will be in the test... Now for me it was much easier to memorize it when I actually knew how it worked... It is a perfect example what is the difference between memorization and understanding something... School is all wrong, even the exams are anything but objective...

Did you ever wonder, how time works?
05-06-2012 07:10 AM
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1312 Offline
It gets better, believe me. :)

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Post: #6
RE: Understanding vs. Memorization

I don't care what those faggots want me to memorize or understand, all I care about is what I want to care about, not what mindless "civilized people" tell me.


"And nothing could ever really make me give a fuck about
Anything you care about so why even bother" - Ill Bill
05-06-2012 07:48 AM
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IamNoone Offline
Pro Procrastinator

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Post: #7
RE: Understanding vs. Memorization

ITT: #1 Problem with school.

If they taught us to work things out for ourselves and to work it out instead of just memorizing it,we would all be much more intelligent and be able to from our own opinions and ideas instead of just mindlessly following what we were told. Apparently, we only begin that in AP classes or in college.

Any dumb ass can memorize and reapply a formula, but we need to learn to discover and recreate stuff from scratch.

"My Math teacher told me to stop asking why, and just memorize the formulas. Now I get all 100's on tests. I have no idea what any of the formulas do, but I want to, I really do" -"Perks of Being a Wallflower"

The purpose of life is a life with a purpose
So I’d rather die for a cause than live a life that is worthless
I don’t need the circus or the day of national observance
I need you to think for you and stop being a servant
-Immortal Technique, The Martyr, The Martyr
05-23-2012 12:23 PM
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