Notices by Colin the Mathmo (colinthemathmo@mathstodon.xyz)

"We are all time travelers, journeying together into the future. Let us work together to make that future a place we want to visit." -- Stephen Hawking

OK, here's a nice variant:

"You are playing the Monty Hall problem. However, you secretly know one of the goats is the former pet of an eccentric billionaire who lost it and is willing to pay an enormous amount for its return, way more than the car is worth. You really want that goat.

"The host is unaware of this. After you pick your door, as is traditional, the host opens one door, which he knows doesn't have the car. He reveals a goat, which you can tell is the ordinary goat and not the secretly valuable one. The host offers to let you switch doors.

"Should you?"

-- https://mathstodon.xyz/@shachaf@y.la/113777521149001723

Michael J. Fox has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour.

https://www.michaeljfox.org/news/michael-j-fox-receives-presidential-medal-freedom

Amazing human being.

@lambdasierra @david_chisnall In "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" they mention "loglan" (which is now lojban).

There are some who think that would do the job.

I've been thinking about this for ages, but never had the time to craft the words around it.

People keep saying that "Maths should be fun" ... and I push back with "It should be engaging ... 'fun' is a different thing.

So @rakhichawla has posted pretty much exactly this, but better than I ever could.

I'm copying it here with permission.

Please read this, then as it says at the end ... let's have a deeper conversation about this ...

1/n

(PS: I'd love this to get boosted to get outside my bubble ... you're all amazing, but there will be other opinions, and other thoughts that could be helpful or valuable)

Hashtags: #MathEd #MathsEd #MathEdChat #MathsEdChat #MathChat #MathsChat #MTBoS #TMWYK

@julesh Are you intending to be active in learning the network?? Or just learn it be osmosis?

@goatsarah *Head in hands*

@goatsarah They say this like it's a bad thing ...

@tek This is sounding interesting ...

I can totally believe this:

Dr. Damien P. William...

Remember how i told y'all that text written by neurodivergent peeps would likely have a higher false positive rate on "Al" checkers because masking means they are likely to engage in careful and specific word choice and that that would show up in text as "unnatural?" This is more of that.

Quoting Mike Masnick:

Kid has an English assignment, where school has kids first submit essay to an "Al checker." Kid did not use Al. Al checker says the use of the word "devoid" magically turned essay into 18% Al written. Changing "devoid" makes it drop to 0%. We're spending time "un-Al-ing" an essay that has no Al.

Seen on FFB, copied here with permission. Link and attribution at the end.

FOMO is killing our students' future, one shortcut at a time.

But what if the shortcuts they chase are the biggest lie?

Last night, I stumbled upon a reel about how to ace the 10th and 12th exams.

The video explained how students should attempt questions and how to get perfect marks—fair enough.

But then my feed transformed into a rabbit hole of board exams and quick fixes for prep.

I scrolled past mindless short tricks, claims of guaranteed success, and people begging for followers, promising free videos and notes once they hit 50,000 followers.

Some X-Sirs or Y-Mams were selling below-the-basics products masked as revolutionary tips.

The pinnacle of advice came from a renowned person: Solve the SOLVED QUESTIONS of the top 3 books and read NCERT like a Bible.

Solved Questions. Not Unsolved. Really?

Have you ever noticed the likes on such meaningless videos? None less than 100K.

The comment sections were filled with—fear, doubt, and misery.

1/n

(cont'd)

Where was the joy of learning?

How did learning get shrunk down to meaningless pressure for marks?

What do these marks even signify? Learning?

What has this system truly done to us?

The pressure to conform to these quick hacks—these promises of effortless marks—is killing any real hunger for knowledge.

They're chasing virality and volume, not value.

What we're seeing is a system focused on marks, not mastery.

Concepts are lost.

Critical thinking? Forgotten.

Instead of building a foundation that lasts a lifetime, students are obsessed with patching up with shortcuts.

It's like trying to build a house on sand.

2/n

(cont'd)

And let's not forget the parents.

They, too, are sucked into this game, running after crash courses and rapid results, because FOMO isn't just the students' problem—it's a societal one.

This FOMO-fueled learning mindset has steep consequences.

We're raising a generation of students who equate learning with rote memorization and instant gratification.

They are never given the time or space to struggle with a problem or to think deeply.

In a world that demands innovation, creativity, and resilience, we rob them of the tools they need to succeed long-term.

If this trend continues, what kind of adults will they become?

Quick-fix seekers?

Problem avoiders?

And for what?

A school mark sheet?

3/n

(cont'd)

I saw a comment from a student -- "I can't do this without shortcuts. I'm too dumb for this."

My heart sank. There it was.

That moment when a child's belief in themselves gets crushed under the weight of a system that teaches them to believe they aren't enough.

That moment solidified something for me: The problem isn't just the shortcuts—it's the system encouraging them.

Joy, curiosity, and actual learning are tossed aside in the pursuit of instant success.

We need a paradigm shift.

Learning must be about building mindsets, perseverance, and conceptual understanding.

If we don't shift this now, we'll lose the future to mediocrity masked as brilliance.

-- Rakhi Chawla

https://www.facebook.com/therakhichawla/posts/pfbid027pEUDfVQWivxEXp4CajN8bZ3RbwkzWLJKuAFnd37SYLZVyGC7FHg97V4pkntfEvGl

4/n, n=4

Couple of mis-steps ...

#CellTower 878

⬜➡️➡️⬇️⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜➡️➡️➡️⬇️⬜⬜
➡️⬆️⬜➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️⬆️⬜⬜➡️➡️➡️

https://www.andrewt.net/puzzles/cell-tower/?p=878

Current streak: 224
Best streak: 224

The world is a better place because @Minimus and family are in it.

Just wanted to say that.

@futzle I always find it confusing/disconcerting when the results are not adding up to 100%

Next video from #G4G15 :

Timothy Snyder:
Correspondence between Projective Geometries and Regular Polytopes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_qUfEb8RU

From the playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5_D5QQxvWKUPpMY3eNV-PrIzh1uHlR8x

All part of the #G4G series of videos:

https://www.youtube.com/@G4GCelebration/playlists

Boosts welcome (if content to do so)

#RecreationalMaths #RecMaths
#RecreationalMath #RecMath
#MTBoS #MathEd #MathEdChat

'Bother,' said the Borg, as they assimilated Pooh

Here's a headline:

"Gatwick train cancelled after squirrels board and 'refuse to leave'"

https://news.sky.com/story/gatwick-train-cancelled-after-squirrels-board-and-refuse-to-leave-13217117