Gary_Yngve

RuMR, it's never been my intent to say you all suck. I'm somewhere i the middle. There are plenty of people who are way better than me. I've simply been saying that I'm weird, and if I'm not with someone who's similarly weird, it could be awkward. There's a fine line between stating the facts and chest-beating. For example, trollng for partners by saying, "I'm looking for someone who can swing leads with me on Centerfold at Index." Is that chest-beating?

Well, some of my favorite movies include Real Genius, Goodwill Hunting, and Pi.

Re: Napoleon Dynamite, that movie disgusts me. Obviously, academics were a big part of my childhood, and my friends were the weirdos who were, either worshipped (by the teachers) or ostracized (by the jocks and cheerleaders) for our academics. One of my friends got a 1600 on the SAT, took it again, got another 1600, and said that now he could claim his 1600 wasn't a fluke. My senior year of high school I managed to break out of that crowd and befriend the jocks/sheerleaders.

I actually feel that calculators have hurt math education to an extent. There's something about being able to reason about problems intuitively and do back-of-the-envelope estimations that tends to get lost with the reliance on calculators.

Fuck, this thread has gotten weird. In the past five years, I don't think I've told anyone that I got X place at Y competition, that I scored X on Y test, etc. The only thing that I can think of is the National Geography Bee -- I was state champ of GA, and another CC.commer was state champ of his respective state. But the reason that I brought it up is my parents dug up the profiles of the competitors from back then, and it had pics of us when we were 12, with silly bios. Somehow all this shit is bursting out at once. Not sure why. Maybe it's the insecurity that someone else mentioned... insecure of my lack of results on a problem that may be too hard for a PhD?

Or, aim for China!

The SATs are meant to test the general population. Hence they do a poor job in testing the exceptional, as the variance in their scores comes not from ability but from carelessness. There are many other tests that are more appropriate for those who excel at math. In high school, there is the AHSME -> AIME -> USAMO (-> IMO) series. Counties/states often hold their own math tournaments. ARML is a national math tournament were states and some private/magnet schools send their own teams. In college, there's the Putnam Exam.

I have no idea, but if I had to guess, probably about 190-200, as I haven't trained for it specifically in years. In undergrad, I could do 225, which made me happy, as it was my weight + 50%. But it obviously required maintenance.

What's wrong with Duke?

You sure know how to push the buttons of my online persona.

First, I said 0.1% of all people. As for algebra students, I remember feeling dreadfully uncomfortable in 9th grade when my algebra teacher announced my Math SAT score in front of the entire class before I had heard what it was. Second, I didn't get a 780 on the math section of the GRE. I am a little embarrassed to say, though, that my verbal dropped 100 points between the SAT and GRE. Third, I'm not biting any more of this troll.

Sorry, not you. Pope.

What do you think of Dana's Arch>

Well, if you've pursued the hard sciences (excl. Biology) in college most women are below you. Students in those fields are still majority male, and many are any overwhelming majority male, even though women make up a majority of college students. Not that women couldn't, they haven't. Don't get me started on women & science issues...

Geeky humor. As I've said multiple times, defining my pickiness and far from bragging. A joke. It was my first trip with Mr. Slothrop, and he came up with that nickname randomly. I believe you selectively edited out the "scared the hell outta me." I'm not sure I remember the context, but this was a weird relationship. I remember we got into an argument one time because we each insisted the other was better at math.

Where am I coming across as bragging/boastful? I'm explaining my pickiness.

That is really cool. I wonder if it will help increase mass-transit use.

I agree with you. I have this archetypal woman in my mind who has mad math, artistic/musical, and culinary skills, has traveled the world, and is exceptionally fit and outdoorsy. There are few women who meet all these criteria, and at this point in time in my graduate studies, I don't feel I can share myself to the level that she would deserve. I have a hard time finding a good compromise, both on qualities I am looking for and how much of myself I can share.

Holy crap!!! That 30m WI6 column of ice collapsed with a guy on it!!! Apparently he wasn't hurt?

fuck, i'm going to abstain from this thread now. i'm giving the peanut gallery too much material.

Modesty is irrelevant. In fact, I may get the opposite, where she says, "I am smart," and she may be, relative to her colleagues, but not to my colleagues.

I think I was in elementary or middle school when that Barbie came out, and I remember my mom, a mathematician, was furious. About the same time, my brother's teacher was suggesting a mnemonic for milli- -> kilo- that incorporated something about metrics being difficult or hard. Much letter writing ensued.

I was retorting to Dru and RUMR, the point being that I'm picky, not that I'm trying to brag. If I were doing the latter, I could have said a lot of other stuff. I'll laugh with a fellow mathlete!

I thought the letter in Alpinist was great, especially the punchline.

The number 0.1% is made up and intended to be an underestimate. It's like saying you were the best in your highschool at math.