Herman Rubin wrote:
> I also doubt
> whether learning to compute answers gives any insight
> into the concepts, except for those with good research
> potential, and even there it tends to confuse.
It depends on what "learning to compute" means. (*I'm* saying this
in repsonse to a comment from Prf. Rubin?!)
Consider exp(i pi).
I can compute it by using Euler's rule or by viewing it as the pi
radians rotation of a rod of unit length in the imaginary plane.
Or consider the variance. I can compute it by using the desk
calculator algorithm or by summing the squares of deviations.
If learning to compute means simply that one is given a formula--any
formula--that is to be used without any thought of its origins, I
agree.
OTOH, thoughts about the method of computation can often lead to
important insights.
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