Were you a high GPA student?

[Alex K]

Like for example consider this equation: -b +(or -) root of b^2 - 4 ac / 2a
Why -b? why not +b? why 4 ac? why not 3 or 2 or perhaps 5 ac? and why 2a? why not 150a?

Obviously someone really smart formed this equation but if i'm not given information as to how someone formed
this equation(so that i can understand why this equation is the way this equation is)it is simply memorizing equations -
which is quite dumb in my opinion.
A similar situation in programming would be - Consider an algorithm that can give you a particular output.We know that
the algorithm works but we don't know what the algorithm is or how it actually works.We are given some unrelated
clues as to what the algorithm is and we are supposed to memorize these clues.But we don't really know what the
algorithm is,we just memorize these clues and we think that we know the algorithm but we really don't.


When i learn a subject i don't like memorizing anything but only like understanding the logic of how stuff works.
In mathematics,i'd memorize numbers and that's as far as i'd go in the memorizing sector,maybe some basic operations too,
but i like figuring out those things all by myself.
If i know all the numbers and all the basic operations then i should be able to do better and more awesome things,i could
do that in programming - i should be able to do it with mathematics too,but i can't and that's why maths sucks.


Furthermore,in mathematics i've encountered more than often situations where the "answer" was right in front of my eyes
but i somehow miss it.Someone will point out that the answer was always right in front of me and it was quite amazing
in the beginning but i grew frustrated quite fast,like that game of shuffled letters and you're
supposed to figure out the word.This experience made me relate mathematics with jigsaw puzzle.I will
have all the pieces to solve the puzzle but i have to figure out where to place the pieces.Whereas i equated
programming with playing chess,where i have to look through all the possible scenarios and what effect a single action
will have on the whole of the system.

I feel like math is based on luck whereas programming is based on a perfectly laid out plan.

I took a math course in college specifically about proofs and theorems.  In high school we were taught to memorize them, but once you get in to upper levels of mathematics, you have to work on proofs and why they are true and why they are what they are.  Toughest class I ever took.  Homework assignments were easily 10+ pages.

I took the same stuff at the beginning of uni. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the most profoundly transformative experiences of my life. I've never learned completely new modes of thinking over the course of just two semesters the way I did then. And yes, 10+ pages, that often took as many hours to create...

But pool is right, constructing a proof often has much to do with creativity, intuition and a bit of luck. It is an art form, not a set of recipes.

But then, isn't finding algorithms the same?