[0706] Booger Brain
└ posted on Monday, 3 August 2015, by Novil
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- Michael R. Douglas: That was a funny prank. But now I really have to go.
- Ye Thuza: It’s not a prank! Yuna, tell Mr. Douglas what you know about the foundations of the Maxwell’s equations.
- Yuna: If X is a Hilbert space, then the identity map I:X → X is compact if and only if X is finite dimensional.
- Michael R. Douglas: You’ve memorized that sentence quite well.
- Yuna: How can that man be so smart even though his brain’s entirely made up of boogers?
- Ye Thuza: There are lots of things in this world for which science has no explanation yet.
![[0706] Booger Brain](/comics/2015-08-03-0706-booger-brain.png "[0706] Booger Brain")
“Suicide by not taking future villain seriously” is one of most common causes of death among boggerbrains.
Get rekt, 1 like = 1 prayer :/
interesting statement… however it only applies because of postulate that infinity + 1 = infinity.
and actually this only works when infinities of same order are concerned.
what if we negate the first the first postulate – whin in essence is bordering on axiom… granted it might require devising a way to distinquish between same order infinities…
anyone have an idea?
One day when Yuna becomes super famous he’s going to regret not tutoring her when he had the chance.
I will relish that day when it comes.
ieatapples wrote:
Coming to you june 2040
The characters age throughout the comic, but slower then real life time =P
RikuGx wrote:
Are you sure about the date. . . Yuma took over on. . . . . .AIIIIEEEEE . . .THEY FOUND ME, TH…Connection disabled.
A true mathematician knows quite well that mathematicians might not perform well when it comes to basic arithmetic.
In short: he’s really a booger brain.
Problem is that it s not much of a prank. I mean really…who gets their jollies from pranking someone like that?
Ok… That was disheartening…
Personally, I think his reaction was quite understandable. Think about it:
1) Rather than making a proper appointment, Ye Thuza and Yuna ambushed him while he was walking to his car.
2) They presented no evidence except an ordinary report card, which gave her a B in mathematics.
3) When he asked a (comparatively simple) question to gauge Yuna’s skill, she completely flubbed it.
This man hasn’t been watching Yuna for years, like we have. All he has is a single brief meeting. If I were presented with the same (extremely disappointing) evidence that he was, I might well have reached the same conclusion.
@ MaxArt:
Yea, I know people who failed basic math, but could mentally reach the five or six digit numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, and people with perfect grades in all math subjects in college who’d struggle to reach three….
This: http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1777Also feels relevant.
And that’s why they should have brought that “cold Mononoke fusion” experiment…
http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2014/11/10/0632-energy-crisis-i/
http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2014/11/13/0633-energy-crisis-ii/
Or rebuilt it while he was looking at – Just not with those hellish expensive anime action figures…
She could have demonstrated her talents in physics and engineering as well:
Yuna: Just let me demonstrate my abilities properly, sir, and I’ll reactivate your car’s ignition system. And central locking system. And stop jamming your mobile phone.
>:=)>
I know it may sound weird, but this comic made me feel literal pain while reading it. It hurts me so much internally how she was simply rejected like that, despite her being such a genius…
@ qq:
I gotta admit, my heart shattered when I saw this.
The notion of a compact map is different from the notion of a compact operator. The identity map is always compact map, but in the case of infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces it is not a compact operator. Maybe you should write it as “the identity map is a compact operator if and only if…”or “the identity operator is compact if and only if…”
The professor’s test was not well chosen, but Ye Thusa also should have been better prepared. If Yuna is such a genius, get it on paper. There are other sources than school.
Personally, I find it a bit hard to take this seriously. In a comic where the author made Sandra great at math, but not unreasonable so, I’m not fond of Yuna being a super genius.
Wow, turns out Yuna was telling the truth earlier, this guy has a skull full of snot.
I was confused by the sudden change from friendly mentor-typish behaviour to complete disinterest… I mean, he even took his time to meet with Yuna, drove there and after a badly designed test, his mood imediatly turned from amusedly smiling to angry annoyence…
I think it’s related to the urban myth that Einstein failed mathematics in school (He didn’t, by the way). But still, a professor should realize that higher math involves less numbers and more logic. A logic riddle would have been more suitable
@ Kyran:
I’m in college and it still took me ten minutes to figure that out also I’m tired of math in these comics I keep feeling compelled to figure it out
@ Gnaarf:
This wasn’t a pre-arranged meeting. Ye Thuza and Yuna just walked up to him while he was getting into a taxi. Under the circumstances, they were lucky to keep his attention for as long as they did.
And how Yuna know Maxwell’s equations but can not do a simple mental arithmetic… Maybe she has really only a good memory… Yeah, “there are lots of things in this world for which science has no explanation yet”… (and maybe even autor has not…^^)
If you can’t do simple math, you will never be accepted in engineering and mathematician circles.
13 x 17 + 3^2 = 151 + 9 = 160.
@ Peace:
Mistake 13 * 17 =130 + 91 +9 = 230
I have to say it: Ye Thuza and Yuna could have done it better. That was a dissaster, yet it is a valuable experience. That’s why resumes and interviews have protocols to follow.
@ SlugFiller:
Have you taken higher math? Intuitive Logic isn’t going to help when your applied math course goes into Quantum Mechanics or Relativity. Even some classical physics are not simply that easy. I have taken some degree level class tests without a calculator and there is still a bit of arithmetic left in
@ Five:
You could probably teach a seven year old how to recite Maxwell Equations, we learn the law of no magnetic monopoles simply through ion filings and a magnet, tell the person that this means that there is no net magnetic flux. Three to go.
Personally though, teaching the Heavyside equations might be a valid prerequisit.
Oh god, that was horrible. And yeah, Ye Thuza could’ve handled that a lot better. Like forwarding Douglas Yuna’s submission to Mathematics Magazine, along with their reply, and a request for an appointment.
Honestly…
Kinda interested in seeing Yuna end up an actual villain and get revenge on this boogerbrain.
qq wrote:
Very true. A certain university professor is in grave danger of one day joining that feminazi Cambridge . . . . . . . no, that’s too cruel. To him.
@ Asdf333:
Yeah, same here. Poor Yuna, like the family pet abandoned by the side of a country road watching the people she thought loved her driving away.
Crystalgate wrote:
Why shouldn’t Yuna be a super genius? It’s a comic with a talking raccoon, a girl who literally makes lava out of floors, a stay-at-home Mum who disappears those who threaten her family, an eleven-year-old boy with mad ninja skills, frankly a little girl being a super-genius is normal!
…and he will *not* be spared in The Night of the Long Knives.
@ Demarion:
Good question. I’ll think about it. In the meantime, I’ll just conclude that for whatever reason, I don’t like it.
@ Kevin Breslin:
Well, you learn simple arithmetic by using it for so many years that it finally just stays in your head and you don’t think about it. Kids haven’t had these years. What you need to test in a kid is exactly mathematical thinking, not whether they’ve done so many calculations that they’ve stopped thinking about them.
That aside, even with having to actually think about simple arithmetic, you can do pretty much whatever high level math you want. As long as you are not stressed for time and have all resources available (that is to say, you aren’t taking an exam).
Which only goes to show that this professor thought Yuna is the victim of an overachieving parent, not an actual talent.
Meh, Ye Thuza wasn’t even trying here. In any event math is one of those provable and objective disciplines. Yuna would have already been discovered after sending in complex proofs to the magazine, ad hominem attacks not withstanding. For this type of humor to work for me it has to have a basis in reality. This feels like melodrama.
[ERROR] wrote:
I can’t imagine her brother letting her go down the path of villainy and even if she does he’s going to be the one to stop her.
Now, usually, when people say they have a head cold… 😉
@ Kyran:
I agree.
Sadly, though, I think we’re supposed to feel sad for Yuna here, but she, like her mother, has been rather arrogant as of late, and it feels more like just desserts than an emotional letdown here.
Next time, do what everybody else does and make an appointment, Ye Thuza. You may be a rebel in your home country, but don’t think you can simply get away with whatever you want anywhere else.
@ NewEraOutlaw:
The point was about how Yuna wasn’t given any chance from the start. A normal response would be along the lines of “what do you want me to tutor a kid on?”, which would serve to clear out the situation a little. Instead, the professor just decided to have some cheap fun with them.
But I guess that flew over your head. Oh well, not all jokes work.
Besides, all she has to do is to send him Yuna’s work, without even bothering to try making an appointment. He’ll want to meet them afterwards.
@ erejnion:
His arithmetic question was probably meant seriously. Yes, that question may have been misguided, but that doesn’t make it a joke.
It also doesn’t matter what the point was. Ye Thusa wanted the professor to teach Yuna, but she hardly gave the whole deal any effort. She used what paper work she already had and didn’t bother to generate any additional papers on Yuna’s intelligence. As a starter, she could have had Yuna take an IQ test.
I’m with the people who say that the professor isn’t at fault here. They ambushed him instead of making an appointment. They provided no proof of their claims save an altered report card with a B in math. They didn’t even bother bringing the magazine and a copy of her letter, or even an IQ test…and on top of that, Michael R. Douglas’s job isn’t isn’t tutoring kids, or even tutoring adults, he does research, teaches at University and has contributed to some advanced physics research centers and summer schools. At best they could have received a letter of recommendation for some teaching institution for gifted children (assuming those even exist).
I think Ye Thuza is too busy getting her way threatening people, bullying them, blackmailing them, physically attacking them or just walking on them. And she’s teaching her very intelligent daughter to act the same way, which is a way to sabotage her future development and career. No matter how smart Yuna is, she will end frustrated and failing if she doesn’t learn to express her thoughts properly and discuss with civility.
If I didn’t know that Ye Thuza is the way she is due to her past as a freedom fighter against a dictatorship, I would find her a most unsimpathetic character.
Hastur wrote:
EDIT: I meant “too used to get her way threatening people”. I’m not a native english speaker…
Couldn’t have Yuna’s father done this? Thought, i think neither the father nor the mother want a ” goober brains” teaching his daughter. I like Sandra’s father way better, he seems to be portrayed as more sensible and aware about Sandra. Hard lesson for Yuna: sometimes your parents aren’t the most wise and sensible about your needs. No biggie, though. She could be a new Srinivasa Ramanujan, if Ye Thuza doesn’t mold her into a justice warrior before she realizes (or close enough, as a “confused” archvillain xDDD )
@ Kyran:
That’s the most reasonable response to the professor’s response that I’ve read so far.
Most folks seem to be just jumping on the Yuna -can-do-no-wrong bandwagon.
@ Crystalgate:
Well said.
@ DrAngryEd:
Mucho verdad.
@ Kevin Breslin:
Nice post!
I think you made a typo in your second response, but I really love it. I hope you don’t mind if I save it and try to use it in a story sometime. (“ion filings” -> iron filings) 🙂
@ Garnasha:
Thank you for saying that.
GnarlyDoug wrote:
Except the magazine rejected her submission because they couldn’t follow her work.