Today, Im thinking about heuristics versus algorithms in games and fiction plots. I have a friend who charges me a nickel every time I use the h word, so lets say that Im thinking about rules of thumb versus recipes. Im going to do a blog post on them soon. I think this is a deep topic relevant to winning at games, storytelling, and life itself. But right now Im thinking how it relates to the issue of common core math, which has incited bafflement and outrage on Facebook. Ive argued for a while that both approaches, the old and new, need to be taught. Learning a general approach to problem-solving, a rule of thumb or, more accurately, a heu-- an h-word, has been neglected far too long in core education. Too many people look at a problem like 29.87 + 15.13 and freeze up without paper and pencil. They know the recipe for solving the problem, and in two or three minutes, theyll probably get the right answer. They may also get an answer like 450 and take another two or three minutes to realize thats not right. Isnt it better to see at a glance that the answer is more or less 45? People who excel at math figure out shortcuts for themselves, but theyre in the minority, which is silly. On this same topic, I watched Edge of Tomorrow a couple weeks ago. Its like Ground Hogs Day. The protagonist in each movie tries to figure out the recipe for attaining their goal. As they do that, they have to revisit their approach and work on their h-- uh, rules of thumb. Both movies are like video games. I can remember playing Doom and getting ambushed and killed by imps in the dark. My first do-over usually went worse than the initial surprise encounter, because my evolved rule of thumb for dealing with an ambush, which involves an adrenaline rush and a narrow focus, is pretty good. However, a strategic foe, or a sadistic game designer, anticipates your primitive reactions and uses them against you, so pretty good isnt good enough, which is why we have this big cortex for developing new strategies, along with a deep feeling of satisfaction when our new approach pays off. So, Facebook, since you asked, thats whats on my mind.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 19:54:36 +0000
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