Digital BW, The Print

I'm not sure the intuition of Einstein or Feymann is all that different 
that of Picasso.  In fact many of the great discoveries in Science are 
counter to the accepted logic of the times as are many of the visions of 
the great artist. The theory of Relativity fits that bill as does 
Quantum Electrodynamics. Many people have suggested that mathematicians 
are more similar to artist that mathematicians and Roger Penrose is 
found of making this analogy between the development of a mathematical 
theory as a classical score. In fact Penrose goes on the lump scientists 
into two groups - those that approach the world analytically and those 
that approach it geometrically.  To him the geometric approach is much 
more intuitive and the process is much more along the lines of how an 
artist would approach a problem rather than the rigid logical approach 
of those more analytically inclined. Of course the details have to be 
filled in and the scientist must have the ability and tools to fill in 
the details. But the first intuition is one of geometric beauty and 
order. To add to this there is also a much larger percentage than in the 
population as a whole of left handed mathematicians and physicists and 
this is particularly true in the "geometric" disciplines, e.g. in 
mathematics topology, differential geometry, algebraic geometry, and in 
physics relativity, string theory, quantum field theory, etc.

I believe the problem lies more with the educational system rather than 
the students. You can test and evaluate the ability to regurgitate 
facts, it is much more difficult to test the progress in the ability to 
learn how to lean and apply that knowledge. Today we seem to be more 
interesting in evaluation the teachers than providing an education to 
the students.

Yes this is pretty far off topic.

Cheers
Truman

Anthony Atkielski wrote:

>Truman writes:
>
>  
>
>>To quote one of the best equine veterinarians
>>in the world, Dane Frazier, DVM, PhD; "Study
>>principles, not methods. The mind that grasps
>>principles will devise its own methods."
>>    
>>
>
>Richard Feymann, the famous physicist, said essentially the same thing.
>
>The only problem with this philosophy is that it requires much smarter
>students than the simple rote memorization of methods and procedures.  Even
>dim bulbs can follow a procedure; but one must be considerably more
>intelligent to grasp a principle and invent a procedure of one's own.
>
>  
>
>>To understand an use the principles one does not
>>have to know the formulas, details in the chemistry
>>of developer X vs. developer Y, but one needs to
>>know there is a difference and to have a "feel,"
>>(we mathematicians/physicists call it intuition),
>>for what will happen.
>>    
>>
>
>"Feel" is a romantic word for reasoning ability.  Physicists and
>mathematicians "feel" when they see the logic in something but cannot quite
>write it out yet.  This is different from the "feel" that artists have,
>which is based on their own emotions and typically does not reflect any
>specific line of reasoning.
>
>  
>
>>The students in the early to mid 70's knew principles
>>and were able to reason. The students starting about 82,
>>knew fact and there ability to reason with those
>>facts were limited - they weren't taught to do so.
>>    
>>
>
>The advantage to teaching facts is that it requires less intelligence, and
>thus allows all students to perform more or less the same, which is the
>current politically-correct goal of most educational systems.
>
>But all of this is far, far away from the nominal topic of this list.
>
>
>
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