General > General Technical Chat
Admit your Brain lock
Zero999:
--- Quote from: IanB on April 04, 2024, 07:03:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on April 04, 2024, 06:31:23 pm ---I'm not in favour of long variable names or even the complete elimination of non-Latin glyphs, but a happy medium. There's no reason to use lower case v and upper case V and similar looking glyphs ϵ and E in the same formula. Far from making it easier to write down, it introduces more room for error and confusion.
--- End quote ---
I'm sorry, but I think you are alone with this viewpoint.
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Clearly not. Also note there are probably many others who feel the same but haven't posted, either through shame or just not noticing this thread,
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/admit-your-brain-lock/msg5428682/#msg5428682
--- Quote ---There really is a reason to use different versions of letters in formulas. For example, \$v\$ can represent velocity while \$V\$ can represent volume, and both can appear in the same formula. If you tried to use the same letter \$v\$ for both, it would be hopelessly confusing. Similarly, we would typically have \$\epsilon\$ for an error, or for a small change, while \$E\$ would represent energy. Using symbols in a clear and consistent way like this aids communication and reduces ambiguity.
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I know why. That doesn't change the fact that I find it confusing and non-intuitive.
IanB:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on April 05, 2024, 04:43:22 pm ---I know why. That doesn't change the fact that I find it confusing and non-intuitive.
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I can read what you are saying, but I cannot comprehend what you are saying. That is probably my mental block.
Maybe there is some general difference in how different minds process information? Some minds may work verbally, and some minds may work visually. With verbal reasoning, there is "vee" and there is "vee", and they are hard to distinguish. With a visual mind, there is \$v\$ and there is \$V\$, and these are two different pictures, with different sizes and shapes. They are as unalike as a cat and a dog.
Zero999:
--- Quote from: IanB on April 05, 2024, 05:13:57 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on April 05, 2024, 04:43:22 pm ---I know why. That doesn't change the fact that I find it confusing and non-intuitive.
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I can read what you are saying, but I cannot comprehend what you are saying. That is probably my mental block.
Maybe there is some general difference in how different minds process information? Some minds may work verbally, and some minds may work visually. With verbal reasoning, there is "vee" and there is "vee", and they are hard to distinguish. With a visual mind, there is \$v\$ and there is \$V\$, and these are two different pictures, with different sizes and shapes. They are as unalike as a cat and a dog.
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Exactly people think differently.
When I see something which looks vaguely like a letter, I just see the letter. Subtle differences between glyphs such as ω and w are discarded. I can clearly see the difference between T and τ, but I remember them as the same letter. This is even worse when I'm writing it down, since my hand doesn't do as my brain tells it. I often miswrite words I know how to spell. The weird non-English letters are even worse.
nctnico:
Sounds like a form of dyslexia to me. :o
IanB:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on April 05, 2024, 05:41:24 pm ---Exactly people think differently.
When I see something which looks vaguely like a letter, I just see the letter. Subtle differences between glyphs such as ω and w are discarded. I can clearly see the difference between T and τ, but I remember them as the same letter. This is even worse when I'm writing it down, since my hand doesn't do as my brain tells it. I often miswrite words I know how to spell. The weird non-English letters are even worse.
--- End quote ---
But I do think learning and practice can help. Minds are not fixed, they can change.
For instance learning and using the different names for different things, such as \$T\$ "tee" and \$\tau\$ "tau". If you think "tau", it could help to avoid writing a "tee". Similarly for \$\omega\$ "omega" and \$w\$ "double-u". Different names, therefore different things. (Though I admit, in this case, \$\omega\$ and \$w\$ do look very similar. That is unfortunate.)
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