This is a short post, if only because this is a simple idea.
Right now, all roads, as far as I know, are maintained by private companies, but governments pay for those companies to maintain the roads. The same thing occurs as far as how the military gets its weapons; companies build the bombs and bullets, while the government pays for those bombs and bullets to be made.
The difference between public and private roads is who pays for the roads. If you want roads, you will pay for them; why should those that don't use the roads pay(be taxed) for them?
If governments were to (1) stop paying for roads and were to (2) stop regulating roads, then individuals, companies, and communities would pave and maintain roads as they see fit. This would be organic and decentralized, rather than planned and centralized; it is no wonder roads are terrible everywhere I seem to drive, except in my apartment complex, driveways, and parking lots.
Also, I've come up with a proverb (if it can be called that):
Private property is the basis of prosperity; politics is the basis of poverty.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Math Class is Innefficient
I was thinking about how increases in the division of labor result in a more efficient economy, and how labor-saving devices make certain kinds of labor either easier or obsolete.
Therefore, I am beginning to think that math class is inefficient, since writing out the equations and showing your work when using a computer program is so much faster. I agree that if someone is going to go into a science for their career, then being able to solve mathematical equations by hand MAY be useful.
However, I cannot see any point in continuing to write out one's math when one could use a computer program to do the same work, but more quickly. I haven't found any such programs, though I imagine that one could make a lot of money. Let's call this program AutoMath.
AutoMath's gui would provide a list of equations, a custom equation field, the ouput, and an option to output each step from equation to answer. Also, AutoMath should be able to read and output equations written in LaTeX. Obviously, this would not help those instances where you have a word problem, but that could be another program entirely.
AutoMath is a labor-saving device, of sorts, that makes any mathematical work faster, which would be a desktop version of what is already used in financial, military, avionic, and aerospace industries. For instance, the Moon-lander used in 1969 had a computer that solved equations constantly through out the historic landing on the moon. Also, financial institutions use extremely sophisticated mathematical models to attempt to either predict prices or to attempt to buy and sell products and services at the best possible time.
Industries already use the concept behind AutoMath, though AutoMath is meant to be used by math students and scientists. Programmers may or may not find it useful, since a few lines of Ruby could do the same thing.
One last thing: I see this absence of a kind of AutoMath, especially for students, is an atavism that may hopefully vanish within the next generation, as the baby-boomers leave the work-force.
Therefore, I am beginning to think that math class is inefficient, since writing out the equations and showing your work when using a computer program is so much faster. I agree that if someone is going to go into a science for their career, then being able to solve mathematical equations by hand MAY be useful.
However, I cannot see any point in continuing to write out one's math when one could use a computer program to do the same work, but more quickly. I haven't found any such programs, though I imagine that one could make a lot of money. Let's call this program AutoMath.
AutoMath's gui would provide a list of equations, a custom equation field, the ouput, and an option to output each step from equation to answer. Also, AutoMath should be able to read and output equations written in LaTeX. Obviously, this would not help those instances where you have a word problem, but that could be another program entirely.
AutoMath is a labor-saving device, of sorts, that makes any mathematical work faster, which would be a desktop version of what is already used in financial, military, avionic, and aerospace industries. For instance, the Moon-lander used in 1969 had a computer that solved equations constantly through out the historic landing on the moon. Also, financial institutions use extremely sophisticated mathematical models to attempt to either predict prices or to attempt to buy and sell products and services at the best possible time.
Industries already use the concept behind AutoMath, though AutoMath is meant to be used by math students and scientists. Programmers may or may not find it useful, since a few lines of Ruby could do the same thing.
One last thing: I see this absence of a kind of AutoMath, especially for students, is an atavism that may hopefully vanish within the next generation, as the baby-boomers leave the work-force.
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