There is another reason why you might chose spirals over rows which is that while spirals are more opportunist and agile, rows require you to work harder at the start and then reap your rewards later - perhaps a little more waterfall.
Regardless of approach, your opening bite requires pushing your teeth down in between unharvested rows rows and clearing out a patch of cob. On the second bite however you can now chose between the base of your newly cleared patch which is literally the "low hanging fruit" (spiral approach) or move directly along and open up a new row (row approach).
The base of your open patch offers good purchase for your upper teeth, high visibility of any oddities that may be lying under the surface and a good understanding of how much you're going to be able to expect from the next bite based on what you just had. Should you find that the cob is too much for you, you can also chop the remainder off, wrap it in clingfilm and keep it for later (or feasibly offer it to another diner).
A row approach means opening up the whole cob in one go. It's hard work at the start and you're fully committed. If you give up half way through you can't really offer your corn to anyone else or bag it for later - it's basically a mess. That said, after that first push you'll never need to open up any new rows and the rest of the process is pretty formulaic - you get all of the uncertainty out of the way at the start.
From this I'd also guess at the following correlations:
Row eaters:
- tend to start projects solo & keep going on their own
- tend to have a lot of unfinished projects that don't work
- like to tackle "big picture problems"
- tend towards optimism
Spiral eaters
- happy to break projects down and collaborate. Unfussed by solo or otherwise
Hah! Amazingly I am a row eater and everything fits (algebra as well).
I can't stop to think that everything we do can be analyzed and determine what kind of person you are. Makes me scared of what facebook and google can tell about a person if you can take this much out of simply eating corn.
Hmmm. I'm an odd one. I eat about 10 kernels from left to right and then move down a row, and start from the beginning going right, eat another 10 kernels, repeat... I'm excruciatingly terrible at math. I start things and never finish them. I'm addicted to instant gratification. I'm a perfectionist (until I burn out). I'm highly creative. Extremely introverted. Lone wolf. And I hate waste. So I'm screwed.
It doesn't have any impact on your predilection for algebra or analysis, it just makes you a heathen heretic who doesn't understand the greatness of corn on the cob. Unless you have dental issues, or are 6, the corn is to be eaten on the cob.
Weird. I got heavy into algebra, algebraic topology, and graph theory early on and never cared a whit for analysis. I eat like a typewriter.
In my home state of Georgia the two major public universities are very lopsided in their math departments. University of Georgia is very strong in algebra and Georgia Tech is very strong in analysis. I went to both but fit in much better in the former department.
I have a bunch of job interviews coming up - I'm going to ask my interviewers how they eat their corn as a wedge into discussing problem solving strategies on their teams.
I eat in both spirals and in rows. Sometimes sticking with one method all the way through, sometimes alternating along the way. Additionally, sometimes I take great care to cleanly peck each and every kernel out of its socket. Other times I mow through it like a wild animal, bits of corn strewn around my mouth.
I have always loved math, and I always want to dive in deeper, but can never quite figure out exactly what area to jump into...
I'm very confused by the idea that OOP would be considered somehow more "algebraic". Functional programming seems way more algebraic to me. I mean, writing Haskell seems about as algebraic as programming gets even without using monads or other such very-high-level abstractions. Also, odd where he puts emacs/vi compared to where he puts programming languages, considering that emacs uses Lisp. (FWIW, I prefer algebra, and I tend to eat corn in patches.)
Algebra is the study of sets and their operations.
In OOP you spend a lot of time defining sets (classes) and coming up with operations on those sets (methods).
In FP you're not so concerned about coming up with sets and operations but rather breaking things up into ever smaller pieces. I mentioned elsewhere that analysis is about starting with big circles and making them arbitrarily small. This is pretty much what recursion is.
There's a neat connection between comonads and OOP.
Comonads are used to describe context-dependent computations. In OOP, you might define a class along with some instance methods (which access private fields or somesuch in order to manipulate the state of the program).
The connection between comonads and OOP arises when you think of a comonad where the "context" is an instance of your class -- so your class methods are the context-dependent computations.
> Going out on a limb, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that where people fall in the emacs/vi debate is correlated with how they eat corn. I wouldn't predict a very strong correlation, but I'd expect that emacs is likely to appeal to people who would like algebra, and vi to people who like analysis.
I would guess exactly the opposite way. Vi defines a sort of a composable language for editing text. Commands are combined of atoms giving a verb describing an action, number of times to repeat and movement over a range to apply the action on. It all becomes a semi-algebraic system of text editing.
Hehe, I'm on both sides and it shows in all three directions. I like all areas of math once I get to know them, and I'm currently rolling numerical computation tools in Haskell :p
(as my job! its pretty great. shoot me an email if that sound fun and you'd like to learn more )
A) I hate getting the kernel skins stuck in my teeth. This happens when eating directly from the cob. I spend dozens and dozens of minutes picking, flossing, and sucking my teeth to get them clean. I'd prefer to shave the kernels off with a knife.
If I must eat from the cob:
B) Cobs with husks attached-- you get these at festivals and fairs. Sometimes they're so frickin' delicious you have to just put up with the A) issues. I'm eating it like a dot matrix printer prints on its drum, from one end to the other, rotate a bit and do it again. Cuz it's hard to rotate more with the damn husk in the way.
C) Cobs without husks-- family gatherings with plastic utensils that couldn't shave a cob in any circumstances. Start at the left end and spin the cob until that section is clear; move slightly right, repeat.
So I'm a pragmatist. And this post had me spending far too much time analyzing and posting about my corn eating habits.
This brings up the issue of handedness: stem in the left hand, or stem in the right hand? I'm guessing you're right-handed, thus the left end is the pointy tip of the corn?
Fascinating! I've made this the daily poll question on Correlated (http://www.correlated.org). Let's see what other surprising correlations we can make from this!
Rows are superior to spirals, because you can eat up all grains while having to turn the cob only once. The minimal number of turns you have to make when eating in a spiral is the length of the cob divided by the width of your frontal bite. // Full disclosure: I started liking math only after a course of abstract algebra, and I eat corn in rows.
I eat my corn in rings, fix a z and then scrape through theta before choosing the next z. It's efficient and it sort-of follows the cornkernel grid.
I'm also more of a statistician who edits in vi and emacs every day and I'm challenging myself with some category theory and abstract algebra because I find it intoxicating.
So, I don't have a clue how to fit into this divide.
Hah, I eat corn the same way. I also use Emacs, but with viper and vimpulse since I prefer modal editing. For programming, I'd currently favor Haskell or Python. My undergrad major was math, and I much preferred algebra. Will I never fit in? At the moment I'm doing formal methods and logic, guess that could've scr me up (just ask Goedel!).
[+] [-] petenixey|13 years ago|reply
Regardless of approach, your opening bite requires pushing your teeth down in between unharvested rows rows and clearing out a patch of cob. On the second bite however you can now chose between the base of your newly cleared patch which is literally the "low hanging fruit" (spiral approach) or move directly along and open up a new row (row approach).
The base of your open patch offers good purchase for your upper teeth, high visibility of any oddities that may be lying under the surface and a good understanding of how much you're going to be able to expect from the next bite based on what you just had. Should you find that the cob is too much for you, you can also chop the remainder off, wrap it in clingfilm and keep it for later (or feasibly offer it to another diner).
A row approach means opening up the whole cob in one go. It's hard work at the start and you're fully committed. If you give up half way through you can't really offer your corn to anyone else or bag it for later - it's basically a mess. That said, after that first push you'll never need to open up any new rows and the rest of the process is pretty formulaic - you get all of the uncertainty out of the way at the start.
From this I'd also guess at the following correlations:
Row eaters:
- tend to start projects solo & keep going on their own
- tend to have a lot of unfinished projects that don't work
- like to tackle "big picture problems"
- tend towards optimism
Spiral eaters
- happy to break projects down and collaborate. Unfussed by solo or otherwise
- good at finishing projects
- not that fussed by starting projects
- tend towards realism / pessimism
Disclaimer
Everything that you're currently thinking :)
[+] [-] lawn|13 years ago|reply
I can't stop to think that everything we do can be analyzed and determine what kind of person you are. Makes me scared of what facebook and google can tell about a person if you can take this much out of simply eating corn.
[+] [-] ChrisNorstrom|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] autodidakto|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] the_cat_kittles|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gpmcadam|13 years ago|reply
Not the tastiest, but it's quick and it gets the job done.
And yes, I'm a PHP programmer.
[+] [-] reinhardt|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m0nastic|13 years ago|reply
So I guess that means I don't care about efficiency, but need things super neat and orderly. I have always liked Prolog though...
[+] [-] msg|13 years ago|reply
It occurs to me that these would make hilarious fortune cookies.
[+] [-] froo|13 years ago|reply
I do it so that the kernels come off cleanly and don't get stuck in your teeth (very similar to cutting them off). I wonder where that puts me?
[+] [-] redthrowaway|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nhangen|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdtsc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MaysonL|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anonymous|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brooksbp|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pguertin|13 years ago|reply
Yes, I am a Forth programmer.
[+] [-] btilly|13 years ago|reply
This is one of the odder correlations that I'm aware of. I'm glad that other people find it interesting.
[+] [-] jboggan|13 years ago|reply
In my home state of Georgia the two major public universities are very lopsided in their math departments. University of Georgia is very strong in algebra and Georgia Tech is very strong in analysis. I went to both but fit in much better in the former department.
I have a bunch of job interviews coming up - I'm going to ask my interviewers how they eat their corn as a wedge into discussing problem solving strategies on their teams.
[+] [-] gxs|13 years ago|reply
While I'm not a mathematician, I was a math major. I always preferred algebra, and sure enough I eat my corn in rows - so one more data point!
[+] [-] jrockway|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] the_cat_kittles|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pirateking|13 years ago|reply
I have always loved math, and I always want to dive in deeper, but can never quite figure out exactly what area to jump into...
[+] [-] carterschonwald|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdtsc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Sniffnoy|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] noblethrasher|13 years ago|reply
In OOP you spend a lot of time defining sets (classes) and coming up with operations on those sets (methods).
In FP you're not so concerned about coming up with sets and operations but rather breaking things up into ever smaller pieces. I mentioned elsewhere that analysis is about starting with big circles and making them arbitrarily small. This is pretty much what recursion is.
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] profquail|13 years ago|reply
Comonads are used to describe context-dependent computations. In OOP, you might define a class along with some instance methods (which access private fields or somesuch in order to manipulate the state of the program).
The connection between comonads and OOP arises when you think of a comonad where the "context" is an instance of your class -- so your class methods are the context-dependent computations.
[+] [-] pacala|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tptacek|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] signalsignal|13 years ago|reply
Compile me confused.
[+] [-] arnarbi|13 years ago|reply
I would guess exactly the opposite way. Vi defines a sort of a composable language for editing text. Commands are combined of atoms giving a verb describing an action, number of times to repeat and movement over a range to apply the action on. It all becomes a semi-algebraic system of text editing.
[+] [-] MaysonL|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robertocr|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] simonbrown|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carterschonwald|13 years ago|reply
Great silly post to end the day with
[+] [-] tshile|13 years ago|reply
Was a fun read!
[+] [-] delinka|13 years ago|reply
A) I hate getting the kernel skins stuck in my teeth. This happens when eating directly from the cob. I spend dozens and dozens of minutes picking, flossing, and sucking my teeth to get them clean. I'd prefer to shave the kernels off with a knife.
If I must eat from the cob:
B) Cobs with husks attached-- you get these at festivals and fairs. Sometimes they're so frickin' delicious you have to just put up with the A) issues. I'm eating it like a dot matrix printer prints on its drum, from one end to the other, rotate a bit and do it again. Cuz it's hard to rotate more with the damn husk in the way.
C) Cobs without husks-- family gatherings with plastic utensils that couldn't shave a cob in any circumstances. Start at the left end and spin the cob until that section is clear; move slightly right, repeat.
So I'm a pragmatist. And this post had me spending far too much time analyzing and posting about my corn eating habits.
Hi, I'm delinka, and I eat corn.
[+] [-] biot|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lani|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jawns|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Gring|13 years ago|reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMD1fTQGego&feature=playe...
[+] [-] mkopinsky|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bluekeybox|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rapind|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mkopinsky|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tel|13 years ago|reply
I'm also more of a statistician who edits in vi and emacs every day and I'm challenging myself with some category theory and abstract algebra because I find it intoxicating.
So, I don't have a clue how to fit into this divide.
[+] [-] oggy|13 years ago|reply
Anyway, a highly entertaining article.
[+] [-] fferen|13 years ago|reply