The One Where Math Problems Cause Problems

So, Facebook has a new feature. It allows you to create a question that can then become public, which means that even people who aren't your friends can eventually answer it. One man, in all his wisdom, decided to ask a math question. The question he posed is as follows:

6/2(1+2) = ?

Now, the unfortunate truth about this problem is that it is a poorly written equation. 1.8 million people have answered this question. A slight majority believes that the answer is 9 rather than 1. There is a good number of people who claim that, according to the Order of Operations, the problem is equated with (6/2)*(1+2). The answer to this second equation is obviously 9. And that is the reason that I felt the need to say something. For the last couple decades or so American schools have failed to teach their students basic math concepts like the order of operations. It's really not a difficult concept to master, but the teachers allow students to pass math without an understanding of math because they don't want to spend the time teaching it. The tests are curved, the homework is repetitive and unhelpful, and the teachers don't know how to teach math to their students because they don't think it's important. But folks, when so many people get a simple problem, like the one above, wrong, you know there's an issue. Also, trying to write down equations on the computer causes issues because you can only use a single line to write an equation. Use a pencil and some paper, it's a lot easier to read.

For the record, The Piebald Penguin would answer the above question with 1 because when I read a question like that, I take it to mean 6/(2(1+2)). But that's just my opinion.

~The Piebald Penguin

The One Where Girls Are Better Than Boys

Today we learned how to draw scarecrows in Spoken Communication class...

So this is the one I made. It's in pencil. Because I'm boring like that...

One of the girls in my class drew this one...and then gave it to me...

The moral of this story is, even college can feel like elementary school. And it's such a refreshing change. Smiley.

~The Piebald Penguin

Enemy Sighted!

Back in the old days when The Piebald Penguin was just a young thing, he and his friends were fond of playing board games. Yes, I admit it. We are nerds. It's true. Ok. Phew. I feel better now that I got that off my chest. Remember though, this was back when multiplayer computer games were still on the cusp of being popular. And none of us had the ability to finance a home network. Sadface (see what I did there? I wrote out an emoticon. What now.) So we played board games together, like Risk and more commonly Axis & Allies. Axis & Allies was a game about strategy combined with a little luck and a lot of time. It usually takes at least fifteen minutes just to set up the board. We would play for an hour or two and then my brother and I would get in an argument about who was the better human being (It's me. You all know it's true. There. I won the argument because he doesn't read my blog so he can't respond. *Evil laughter*). However, before that happened, we would usually have plenty of fun playing the game. One problem with board games, though, is that they are vulnerable to physical disturbances. This includes, but is not limited to, earthquakes, moving bodies, and cats that like to walk across the board. Actually, my cat was usually pretty good at being able to pick her path across the board without knocking anything over. It's really incredible to watch. We kept thinking that she would knock all the pieces over but she typically didn't. All of these disturbances are minor in light of the greatest disturbance of them all...and his name is Spiffinator. He went through a phase in his life where he carried marbles with him. Not just small marbles though...oh no...he always had the really large marbles (destroyers? I think that's what they were called). Several centimeters in diameter. But he wouldn't just play with the marbles around the board. He would toss them into the air directly over the delicately position board and attempt to catch them. If I had to guess, I would say that he caught the marble 9 out of 10 times. Unfortunately for the rest of us, there was always, inevitably, that 10th throw. Guess where it would land. Yep. Right in the middle of the board. It's really disheartening to watch all your carefully placed armies fly off the board. Ironically though it was still really amusing. At some point, we actually came up with a new rule for all our board games. We called it the Spiffinator Effect. If someone knocked over a piece on the board, the owner of that piece was allowed to place an extra piece on the board. Ah, good times with board games.

Now we just play computer games. We don't even have to see each other anymore. It's great. Smiley.

~The Piebald Penguin

Proof of President Obama's American Citizenship

A couple of people have asked me what my thoughts on the issue of President Obama's birth certificate are. Since this is such a controversial issue, I have decided to go ahead and add my opinion to the millions out there. The issue was brought up by President Obama himself at a press conference today. If you would like to hear his thoughts on his birth certificate, the link to that video is here. Yes, it is a link to youtube. However, c-span posted it there and placed a link to the video on their site in the description box. Therefore, it is my belief that this video is real and true (why anyone would believe otherwise is beyond me, but I figured that I should start there).

Alright, so what follows is The Piebald Penguin's personal opinion of President Obama's citizenship.

The birth certificate in question is real, tangible, and valid. The proof will be by contradiction.
Let's assume that his birth certificate is a forgery.
This implies that either he had it forged, or the forgery was a plan by the Democrats to win the Presidency by using a charismatic, controversial man.
Case 1: He forged it.
Many people attempt to gain access to the benefits of American citizenship. This would be just one more case of this. This particular man decided to go into politics for whatever reason (wants to change the world, likes the power, etc).
He runs for the Presidency, knowing that if his real citizenship is ever uncovered, he will be publicly shamed, removed from the Presidency, and a pariah.
Being that he is a controversial Presidential nominee, he will undergo even more scrutiny than is usual. He still decides to run.
At this point, the Grand Old Party, as part of their mudslinging campaign uncover the forgery. (This is an assumption on my part. I assume that they would uncover the forgery because politicians and reporters have plenty of money, time, and resources to figure things like this out. Furthermore, it is in the GOP's best interests to remove Obama from the Presidential race, as he is the greatest threat to their candidates)
The GOP discovers the fraud and delivers incontrovertible proof before Congress and the Supreme Court.
Obama is then removed from the Presidential race and McCain/Palin win the election (ok, that was a joke...who knows what would have happened).

Case 2: The Democratic Party is responsible for forging Obama's birth certificate.
While this case is less likely, it is still possible.
Assuming that the Party forged the documents, the GOP would probably have a slightly harder time discovery the forgery. (The reason being that the Democrats also have ample resources, time, and money)
However, the forgery is eventually discovered. For argument's sake, let's assume that this happens after his second year of being President.
With the knowledge that the President's birth certificate is a fake, the GOP brings incontrovertible evidence of the forgery before Congress/Supreme Court.
Obama is immediately impeached and removed from office.
Joe Biden assumes the duties of the President until the next election.

Both of these cases in contradiction because Obama is still President.
Therefore, I believe that President Obama's birth certificate is real, true, and valid. QED.

I apologize for the slightly abstract nature of the proof. I'm a math major, and that's how my mind works. : )
However, I would like to draw your attention to the timing of President Obama's speech. He has now focused the entire nation's attention on this issue. If you remember back a couple weeks, there was a lot of negative press in regards to the budget plan (or lack there of). It is the opinion of The Piebald Penguin that Obama is choosing to draw attention away from this issue in hopes that it will increase his approval ratings. At least, that's my take on this whole matter. Comment down below with what you think.

~The Piebald Penguin

The Complexities of the American Presidency

If you have 5 minutes, I would like you all to watch this video. It is the current event for this week, even though it's Wednesday and not Monday. For those of you who don't have 5 minutes to spare, a brief synopsis of this video is below.

President Obama holds a press conference to talk about his birth certificate. He tells the reporters that he has numerous witnesses that will testify that he has a birth certificate from a hospital in Hawaii.

You should still listen to it in his words though.

UPDATE: If you are interested in an in-depth analysis of Obama's birth certificate, go here.

~The Piebald Penguin

Get Funny

Get Fuzzy - Darby Conly, 25 April 2011

~The Piebald Penguin