Spivak's Calculus

Just the material Saturday, Mar 6 2010

Metawork agnatic 10:29 pm

The best method seems to be converging on no method at all.

No courage, no overcoming, no virtue, just focus.

Week 2 recap: Chs. 2 & 3 Saturday, Mar 6 2010

Work agnatic 10:27 pm

Nice week, not hard. Chapters 2 & 3, didn’t do all the exercises. Most important: understood what mathematical induction is.

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Week 1 recap: Ch. 1 Saturday, Feb 27 2010

Metawork agnatic 5:15 pm

1. A week was a good amount of time for a chapter. I couldn’t finish all of the exercises, but that’s fine.

2. Reviewing, and taking my time, have been helpful.

3. Same realization, again: what seems to work for me is short, intense bursts of thinking. If I’m not focused, no amount of time makes it work. It’s all about focus.

4. Completion. Chapter 1 is done – I can go back anytime I feel like it, but I’m moving on to Chapter 2.

5. It’s my project, and I’m doing it because I want to.

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Completing the square Saturday, Feb 27 2010

Work agnatic 4:11 pm

Review? Totally didn’t remember this. For problem 17.

$ax^2 + bx + c = a(b - h)^2 + k$ where

$h = -\frac{b}{2a}$ and

$k = c - \frac{b^2}{4a}$

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Thought Wednesday, Feb 24 2010

Fun and Metawork agnatic 9:56 pm

Fuck, is it fun to think really hard. I love this shit. Wish I had known that 35 years ago – or rather, I wish that had been ok 35 years ago

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Quick Tuesday Tuesday, Feb 23 2010

Fun agnatic 10:11 pm

No time for calculus today, busy day at work!

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Optical Illusion Monday, Feb 22 2010

Metawork agnatic 7:38 am

Woke up this morning with the peculiar notion in my head that it had been a week since I had started this project, and that since I hadn’t “finished” the Chapter 1 Exercises I was already “behind.” Quite untrue, of course. Some old habits die hard…

“Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” Louis Brandeis, Other People’s Money (1914), p. 62. See also Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 67 (1976).

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Observations Sunday, Feb 21 2010

Metawork agnatic 9:57 pm

What’s been working: short bursts of close concentration, interspersed with intentional periods of rest and relaxation. Dwelling on how fascinating this is, and how good it feels to grow in understanding.

What’s not been working: wandering focus, feeling physically bad, dwelling on negative thoughts, running with negative emotions.

At this point it looks like I can get a lot done in just a few minutes, but that past a certain point there’s nothing I can do to prolong my concentration. Hit it and quit, move on.

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Nameless Sunday, Feb 21 2010

Other People agnatic 9:24 pm

“No description can ever describe the origin. The origin is nameless; the origin is absolutely quiet, it’s not whirring about making noise. Creation is something that is most holy, that’s the most sacred thing in life, and if you have made a mess of your life, change it. Change it today, not tomorrow. If you are uncertain, find out why and be certain. If your thinking is not straight, think straight, logically. Unless all that is prepared, all that is settled, you can’t enter into this world, into the world of creation.” Krishnamurti, Jan. 4, 1986

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