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uhh, this is just a chaotic place where i dump things i like/relate to don't expect much please they/them | 23 | studyblr lurker, hopefully future grad student occassional enjoyer of star trek and medwhump fic

[maxattackssnax]

I love learning new things from fanfics. Mostly things based on more regional differences.

I'm reading a undertale fanfic, math homework needs to be done, whatever, i think I know my middle school math. SO TELL ME WHAT THE HELL PEMDAS IS?

APPARENTLY IT'S BEDMAS?? And now I'm learning that a lot of places are different with their order of operations math??? What's BODMAS and what did you do to my babygirl BEDMAS?

[spectracled-eider]

Usually I try to avoid posting about BIDMAS/PEDMAS whatever you want to call it but since this one isn't about those engagement bait things I think it's fine.

P or B is used for the first letter depending on whether people call them parentheses or brackets respectively. E, O or I is used for the second letter depending on whether people call them exponents, orders or indices respectively.

The interesting thing that happens is actually the order of division and multiplication or addition and subtraction doesn't technically matter depending on how you write things. Division is secretly just multiplication and subtraction is secretly just addition. However you have to be careful how you write these things and this is one of the pitfalls of the whole BIDMAS system. This is never actually an issue for mathematicians and other people who use maths a lot because along the way you become more fluent with the grammar and it becomes second nature. The problem is teaching BIDMAS and only BIDMAS leaves out the other more subtle things and that's what leads to confusion.

It's also surprising how many things are solved by binning the symbol ÷ and writing division with the long bar thing (I know it has a fancy name but it's escaped me). I haven't used it for at least 7 years

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

Just realized I've been wearing a scarlet letter to work all this time

[hylianengineer]

idk why but Duolingo has given me "engineer" in kana so i wrote (attempted to write) your username in Japanese orthography

ハイリア人エンジニア

hairia-jin enjinia

Oh this is fun! why is Hylian pronounced differently? I assumed it came from Japanese because I stole it from the legend of Zelda - did it change when it got localized? Are these not actually sound combinations permissible in Japanese word formation?

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

I'm VERY beginner at Japanese (this is a form of weird, fun practice), but from my understanding: Hairia is Hylia. The <y> in English is actually pronounced [ɑ͡i ] so <ai> makes sense; Japanese doesn't have the same [l] and [ɹ] sounds as English and instead has [ɾ] which is fairly similar to both from an articulatory/phonetic standpoint; 人 is a suffix that's used in demonyms, like the -n suffix is in English (also, this is the only kanji symbol (logographic) here, while the others are katakana (syllabic)). And "engineer" sounds basically the same except there's no final [ɹ], because Japanese doesn't really like mora-final consonants other than nasals (so yes, a permissible sounds thing - phonotactic constraint!)?

[beezlebutch]

"Pride month is over"

WRONG! Your pride month is over! Me and all the other disabled queers are having pride month two: disability edition

[jehandant]

Reblogging this again bc people in the notes are asking a lot of "Am I included? Am I disabled if I have x?" and I just wanted to add the flag here to show people who the pride month is for.

This is the new flag, the old one was more vivid and in a z shape, but it's been made more neutral to be inclusive of people with seizures or sensory issues.

Each stripe represents a different aspect of disability:

Red: Physical disabilities

Yellow: Cognitive & intellectual disabilities

White: (And this is the key one I think) Invisible AND undiagnosed disabilities

Blue: Mental illnesses

Green: Sensory disabilities

If you're autistic or have ADHD? this is your pride month. If you have a mental illness, it's your pride month. If you're hard of hearing, this is your pride month. If you have an autoimmune disorder, this is your pride month. If you are not diagnosed with anything but you know something is up with you: THIS IS STILL YOUR PRIDE MONTH.

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

WHY do i need all of the books in the world AT ONCE. i may have to go to the library this week AGAIN. i have JUST re-checked the four books already in my possession

[audhumbla25]

forcing myself to ask (mostly mildly stupid) questions in every public lecture just to feel something

[leonardcohenofficial]

(1852) Frederick Douglass, "What, To The Slave, Is The Fourth Of July" •

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass was invited to address the citizens of his hometown, Rochester, New York. Whatever the expectations of h

yearly required reading

[a-forest-of-syntax-trees-blog]

If you say “egg” in creaky voice then is it a fried egg?

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

making an original post that triggers the Fear Of Being Perceived and then immediately reblogging a bunch of other people's stuff to restore the balance

[regina-mathematicae]

question for mathblr: is it a hot take that group theory isn't really abstract algebra?

I've found that, pedagogically, the relationship between ring and field theory and classical algebra is much easier to illustrate, and that the relationship between rings and fields is much closer than either rings or fields to groups. It's just a lot easier to say that, as algebra studies polynomials, abstract algebra studies the various structures in which polynomials can be defined, and how they behave in those structures, but group theory really throws a wrench into the whole ordeal.

Like, I get that Galois theory is a whole thing, but that's like the exception that proves the rule. Galois theory is so great precisely because one doesn't expect fields and groups to be related.

I feel like group theory fits in far better with combinatorics and the like, both in ends and arguments. I admittedly don't have much experience with the two, so someone more informed could tell me this is ridiculous.

Even then, I feel like saying group theory is its own thing wouldn't be too far out there.

I suppose I am neglecting the fact that the notion of quotients in group and ring theory are remarkably similar (really the same thing), but it's not like the Galois groups and fundamental groups being manifestations of the same phenomenon means that field theory and topology should be considered the same subject (no matter what Grothendieck says).

I feel like, in the hypothetical event of a divorce, abstract algebra should keep abelian groups, but the only justification I can think of is that modules over a ring are still essentially ring theory.

I feel like, in the hypothetical event of a divorce, abstract algebra should keep abelian groups, but the only justification I can think of is that modules over a ring are still essentially ring theory.

Despite what I just said, I suppose that I am approaching this from a very algebro-geometric perspective, for a pair of reasons:

1. My justification using polynomials earlier

2. I wanted to say that there is no real analogue of 'group actions' in the context of ring theory, but I think a huge class of examples in noncommutative algebra are rings of operators on some space or object.

That second point makes me think that what I'm really getting at is the abelian/nonabelian divide in abstract algebra (which is also exemplified by my claim regarding abelian groups). Now, would I stand by saying that abelian algebra and nonabelian algebra shouldn't be considered the same subject? I don't know...

Basically the point of this post is my initial thought was the product of a mind infected by algebraic geometry and should probably not be entertained; I'm still posting this because I spent all this effort writing this, so I might as well get other opinions

[spectracled-eider]

I honestly think the name "abstract algebra" is more a pedagogical one anyway. In school you learn algebra as symbol manipulation and solving polynomial equations etc (which is what it originally was). And like you say, abstract algebra is broadly the generalisation of these things. So "abstract" is used to delineate that the goal is somewhat different but still the same. However I don't think I've ever seen anyone who is an algebraist refer to themselves as an "abstract algebraist", so I don't think the term is particularly useful when describing fields of research.

Your observation that group theory is a lot different from the study of rings and fields is an apt one. Though I'm not sure that necessarily disqualifies group theory from being abstract algebra. The whole game is essentially the same: we have some rules for some operations and we see what we can say about objects that satisfy these rules. The theories do end up having rather different flavours but they're both still algebra.

Also some places, ring theory is taught before group theory for precisely the reason that it's a generalisation of the usual algebra we do in secondary school. And then once you're comfortable with doing algebra with an abstract set of rules, you look at groups which aren't immediately as familiar.

So my point is more that "abstract algebra" is more a helping hand to signify to students its goals and methods are different (albeit related). So removing groups from that you are just left with ring theory essentially and you might as well just call that ring theory and not abstract algebra.

[shocked--kwarrtz]

"Abstract algebra" may be primarily a pedagogical label, but in that case so are "group theory," "ring theory," etc. Like, I don't think there's any modern working mathematician that would describe themselves as a group theorist. Finite group theory was a genuine subfield at one time, but it's basically dead now, and people who study Lie groups or algebraic groups or whatever are going to call themselves geometers of some sort. Similarly, I can't imagine anyone would call themselves a "ring theorist," they'd say they do number theory or commutative algebra or something. None of these terms really reflect the structure of the frontier of mathematical research.

There might be an interesting conversation to be had about whether teaching all of these topics together, isolated from the contexts they actually show up in modern research, is ideal. Maybe instead of an "algebra" class that teaches groups, rings, fields, etc, those topics really should be folded into courses on diff geo, alg geo, analysis, etc as they're relevant. But realistically, at some point in your pedagogical journey you have to be introduced to the concept of a structure equipped with a set of operations and axioms for the first time, and I think seeing a diverse set of examples from the get-go is helpful. And as @spectracled-eider points out, while the respective theories end up looking different, the elementary techniques you learn when proving your first few results are similar for any kind of algebraic structure. There's only so many ways to shuffle symbols.

[socialistexan]

To all trans youth out there: I see you, I love you, I am proud of you being who you are in this extremely difficult time. I'm so sorry so many adults either want to attack you or have failed to protect you from those attacks.

You deserve a better world and we won't stop fighting until we make a better one.

And fuck the Supreme Court.

[socialistexan]

Last verse same as the first.

Fuck the Supreme Court.

[keplercryptids]

hey, it's okay if the only thing you did for pride was exist. i'm glad & grateful you are in the world. your survival is a celebration.

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

🦎june days of productivity | wrapup, 7/2/26🦎

well. it's July now. wow.

Everything definitely did not all get done from my initial goals list - which is a bit frustrating because I really tried not to be overly ambitious when writing it. Many productive things were done in the past month and that is a kind of victory, but some big and very-important-to-me ones were not. I'm unsure how to find the balance between self-compassion and accountability here… Work ended up taking a lot out of me, plus family responsibilities and some unexpected problems (the last few days of June, in particular, felt like one thing after another; this is my third time starting to write this post because new happenings interrupted). 

The biggest goal for the month was progress on grad school applications, and those are… not much further along than where they started. I'm honestly feeling rather bad about that right now, and just… somewhat depressed in general. But that's mostly because I'm emotionally exhausted (and slightly sleep-deprived again) from the aforementioned Happenings; it will pass. There's nothing to do but keep trying in July.

I did start the new job (having big and kinda mixed feelings about how it's going, but hey, it's a job!). Reading did not happen every day (total: 22/30), but did increase from the amount I was doing previously, which I'm choosing to count as a win. Tutoring was the highlight of my month, I think, and the part that feels the most like true progress (definitely still learning and making plenty of mistakes, but I think I love doing this).   

I did find the weekly posting challenge helpful. The regular updates sort of forced putting things into the perspective of my overarching goals (which at least means more awareness of when I'm getting bogged down in daily struggles), and I think also encouraged me to frame stuff more optimistically (because if I'm going to be putting thoughts out onto the open internet, it feels like there's a certain responsibility to not fill that content with negativity or an unhealthy mindset). Most significantly, although I wasn't a super active poster, the sense of community has been very comforting and grounding; not many people I currently interact with irl have academic interests, so connecting with others who do makes this all feel more possible. Much gratitude to @studywiththevampire and everyone who's been involved <3 <3 <3

I'm planning to take the weekend to reevaluate and plan, then hopefully start the first entirely-July week fresh. Not making a decision yet on whether to try posting again or keep this next stage private, but the experiment was definitely beneficial!

details from the final week + two days, for the sake of completeness:

grad school applications:

at least thought about SOPs and scribbled down a couple thoughts

skimmed some interesting papers

nothing else (boo)

the other stuff:

tutoring last week was more complicated but i enjoyed our discussion immensely!!

continued working at job (231 phone calls in one shift on Monday… i'm so grateful to have employment at all right now, and aspects of the work [public health surveys] are indeed interesting and important, but goodness gracious can it be tedious and draining…)

had another stinking interview (got my hopes up enough for the rejection to hurt but oh well)

parents were traveling so Sibling and i were in charge of dogs, one of whom has complex medical needs

emergency tire repairs!

returned library book (which somehow wasn't actually late?? think they gave me a bonus renewal because the library systems were undergoing an upgrade) 

read 6/9 days

📖: The Mabinogion (Sioned Davies’ translation), The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

🎵: A Symptom of Being Human by Shinedown, Manaka Matsumoto's violin version of Mozart's Rondo alla Turca

[tamzincavendish-deactivated2023]

Happy Summer Solstice to all who celebrate or mark this day in some way, may it be beautiful and wonderful 🌿✨💚✨🌿

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

think I'm caught up on sleep now, hurrah

[semicolonsandexcessiveenthusiasm]

🦎june days of productivity | week 3, 6/21/26🦎

Still didn’t do much beyond survive new job, which annoys me but was pretty expectable (chronic illness + being still not totally recovered from autistic burnout = bonus exhaustion points for everything). Stress and late nights also screwed with my sleep again. But now that I’m through training, hooopefully stability will return🤞(also may have figured out how to nap without triggering mini-flares which is an enormous win)

grad school applications:

basically nothing (again)

planned out times to work on this during the upcoming week

the other stuff:

tutoring seemed to go okay (and is 1000x more fulfilling than the proper job) but i always feel like i fail to connect as well when i’m tired

finished training for new job (got a badge and building access woo)

petsat over weekend (see obligatory bird pic below)

talked to my aunt for the first time in a while 

celebrated Father’s Day with family

read 5/7 days

resigned myself to having an overdue library book (for the first time ever) (i simply CANNOT drive 45 minutes to Beloved University Library right now)

📖: The Mabinogion (Sioned Davies’ translation), The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

🎵: Like You Do by Khloe Rose (warning: link is an iZombie fanvid; you’re getting lots of my weirdness in this post)

[missys-mansion-of-mistakes]

Hey y'all! Posting this on my study account for visibility because... why not.

I'm the editor-in-chief of a fun zine side project all about nostalgia for the 90s and 2000s. We're accepting visual art and writing submissions for our 2nd issue's theme.... CYBERSPACE!

Check out our website for more info: here

We also have a tumblr account! @y2areyouok

Thanks y'all for your attention! Ok, back to my regularly scheduled study journals...