This next sentence may seem odd coming from me, but keep reading. It’s not transphobic to say that trans women athletes have a physical advantage over cis women. The medical truth of that statement has been debated, and I believe that, on the whole, it’s not true. There are certainly cases of trans women who…
Author: Clio
March 26, 2022
Years ago, when my spouse and I were on a bus in Toronto, the woman next to us turned and asked, “Are the voices in my head bothering you?” We were only a few blocks away from our destination, and we decided it would be faster to walk than stay on the bus because we…
my dreams cower
my dreams cower at the edges of my waking mindhaving rudely stormed my brain for another night i try to catch a glimpse of one, or another,shiniing my flashlight in the corner of the roombut they recoil and slither and shimmy maybe the light will bounce off one as it dodges awaybut all i see…
i’m masking
i’m maskingi’m asking youto help me quietthe voices inside my headthat tell methat i can’t this fearthis spherearound meis a poisonous cocoonits safety comesat the costof slow suffocation a part aparthas come togetherto gatherthe pieces of my selfand leave me pronealonefragileisolatedabandoned until there is no more youto pull me out ofthis suffocating fear 03.22.22
Logs, Roots, and Fractions
How notation gets in the way of understanding The other day I tweeted this: Objectively, I realize that \(\sqrt2\), \(\log6\), and \(\frac57\) are all specific numbers and that they’re the simplest way to write those specific numbers. But I struggle with convincing my brain of that. And if I struggle, I don’t at all wonder…
March 12, 2022
When I was a child, there was a PSA about the new kid in school. The child was a loner until one of the established kids reached out and made them feel welcome. Then everyone realized that the new kids was okay, and there were smiles and laughs. When I was a child, I went…
The Logarithmic Rules
In this item, I will show how the basic logarithmic rules, including the Change of Base formula, follow from this equivalency: \[\log_b m = n \Leftrightarrow b^n = m\] For the ease of reading, I’ll generally use the natural base (\(e\)) and the natural logarithm (\(\ln\)). However, everything here applies to all valid bases (\(b…
Thoughts on Memorization (Facebook repost)
There are two basic forms of “memorization”: (a) Rote, through the repetition of the specifically, often decontextualized, data and (b) Habituation, through the repetition of acts that involve the information to be “memorized”. When we think of school, we tend to think of the first kind, because that’s the more efficient in the short-term, but…
My 52nd Birthday
March 4, 2020 was my 52nd birthday. A virus called COVID-19 had been infecting the population in China and other countries, and the US was starting to express concerns. We hadn’t had any definitively confirmed cases yet in Michigan, but within two weeks, schools would be shut down as a precaution. March 12 was the…
How Notation Obscures Patterns
This is another stab for me at what continues to prove to be a complicated topic: How our mess of mathematical notation obfuscates key patterns. This is also a rough draft of thoughts, not meant to be a polished product. In Algebra II recently, the unit is radical notation and rational exponents. That means that…