(Unspecified) ([info]cheeser1) wrote in [info]mathematics,
2008-07-31 06:36:00
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Obviously...

So I recently acquired a copy of Lang's Algebra, and the previous owner seems to have read through most of the book and crossed out every instance of the word "obviously." I find it quite amusing.

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  • 14 comments

[info]nevermore_x

July 31 2008, 12:35:05 UTC 3 years ago

I had a math professor who would always use "obviously" in class. Even if we had no idea what she was talking about... just because it was obvious to her.

One of my friends wrote on the course evaluation... "it was not obvious to me!".

She probably would have went through the book and crossed out all the obviously's too.

:)

[info]cdozo

July 31 2008, 12:56:59 UTC 3 years ago

Thant's really funny. I can relate to that guy.

Deleted comment

[info]futurebird

July 31 2008, 14:41:21 UTC 3 years ago

I think when you're doing a proof or something and you understand it it is "obvious" -- but when you see something for the first time this often isn't true.

When I re-read old books I studied the mentions of "clearly" or "obviously" seem pretty sensible. When I'm plugging through a chapter for the first time they just make me want to cry.

[info]forvrkate

July 31 2008, 13:23:16 UTC 3 years ago

Heh.

Anyone who has spent time looking through Lang will find this most amusing.

[info]futurebird

July 31 2008, 14:38:49 UTC 3 years ago

Oh! Ha ha! I'm going to start doing that too. I hate it when they say that. 2/3s of the time it's obvious but 1/3 of the time you just make your readers feel stupid. And it's totally random when that will happen and dependent on the reader--

[info]infrarad

July 31 2008, 16:48:41 UTC 3 years ago

The words "obviously," "clearly", and "recall" make for great running jokes while teaching. Finger-quotes optional. I like telling students the story* of Hardy lecturing at a chalkboard, and saying, "Now, it is obvious that... It is... obvious... that..." He then stared at the chalkboard for a minute or two, before leaving the room without a word. Twenty minutes later he comes back in and brightly says, "Yes! It IS obvious that..." and continues.



* - the story is of questionable veracity and maybe about a different mathematician

[info]inverted_man

July 31 2008, 23:43:26 UTC 3 years ago

Hey, ha. I guess I should have expected to see you here.

[info]mmailliw

July 31 2008, 17:17:24 UTC 3 years ago

Reminds me of my 'Math 55 Drinking Game'; the rules began as follows.

Whenever Schmid says something is 'obvious', take one drink.
Whenever Schmid says something is 'clear', take two drinks.
Whenever Schmid says something is 'trivial', take three drinks.
Whenever Schmid says something is 'evident', finish your drink!

Of course, with the students in this freshman class all being between 16 and 19 years old... the game was never played.

[info]just_you_wait

August 2 2008, 04:16:03 UTC 3 years ago

Obtaining the alcohol is left as an exercise to the reader.

[info]inverted_man

July 31 2008, 23:47:31 UTC 3 years ago

My 1st year Calculus instructor was a brilliant Chinese Phd who was still struggling with English. One of her pet words was "obviously"...it made her sound incredibly arrogant at first, since a lot of the class was struggling with the material.
But she was so warm when one spoke with her that the appearance of arrogance made little sense when held up to the rest of her personality.

We later found out that she meant it was obvious to us, the class, and her use of the word was an expression of humility.

Only one of us spoke up to tell her that she was giving us too much credit. ;)

[info]notmrgarrison

August 1 2008, 09:18:12 UTC 3 years ago

That was funny.

[info]kandelschwartz

August 1 2008, 11:39:46 UTC 3 years ago

I would totally do that if I ever sold any of my math books, but it is unlikely that I ever will.

[info]mathnerdguy

August 2 2008, 16:06:26 UTC 3 years ago

Hah, yeah, Lang is like that.

Still, I think it's better than if he actually went in and explained all the details. I'm lazy, so being forced to think a little to get through a proof is good for me.
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