Author Topic: Letters of Interest  (Read 6558 times)

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Nation of One

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Re: Letters of Interest
« Reply #30 on: June 18, 2021, 10:14:15 pm »
You are too generous, Holden.  Before the second year of high school, before "Geometry," "Trigonometry," and "Calculus" mathematics had come easy to me.  I loved Algebra, you see.  This was before I was aware that there are more than one Algebra - before I knew of Abstract Algebra.   So, there was tremendous fear and self-doubt.  I would go so far as to say I was experiencing an intense identity crisis.

Without the "mathematics coming easy," my little world seemed to be falling to peices.  I began to be drawn to other things, such as the Occult and "Eastern Philosophy."   By the time I graduated high school, I wished to study "Asian Studies" at a Catholic college, Seton Hall.  We used to call it Satan Hall.    Well, back then in 1985, there was so little interest in Asian Studies that there was just myself and a young Black woman sitting in an office being told that Seton Hall would not be able to offer Asian Studies due to lack of interest.   We must have been ahead of our time, I suppose.  I mean, just look at the shifts in "superpowers" ... China and India are the big giants, and it was not long ago that Japan was also quite an economic force to be reckoned with. 

And yet, I was not interested in Asian Studies for any political reason, but mainly because I found the Philosophy "of the East" to be far more spiritual than that of the Pure Logicians.  This was before I ever even heard of Arthur Schopenhauer.  Imagine how excited and fascinated I was to read Schopenhauer's appraisal of the world philosophical situation.  He clearly favored the worldviews of the Asiatics over those coming out of the Abrahamic religions ...

I would not become interested in mathematics again until around 1993 while working for the park service.  My live-in girlfriend and her friend were taking courses at a community college.  She had me helping her friend with her Trigonometry homework.   This got me interested again.  I taught myself as much Calculus as I could, then went to the same community college, starting with Calculus as first class.  I did extremely well.  It was nearly 10 years after graduating high school.   I remember also becoming interested in programming through the use of the programmable scientific calculators, which really helped me get through Physics and Physics 2.

I do not like to discuss too much about formal academics as I do not wish to alienate those who might be terrified of such things as "Calculus-based Physics."   I am 54 years old and will most likely never be granted gainful employment where I would be able to compute, calculate, or mathematize.   How was I to know that it was all spiritual exercises?

I do not wish to delude myself as to how much I have been able to retain.  I find exercises in most physics texts to be challenging.   I may have burnt my brains out.   I have become quite gruff and even foul mouthed.   ;D
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

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