Scott Goelzer asks whether it is really important to have students memorize
arbitrary sign conventions. In my response to this I'm going to be a bit
sarcastic. I'm not picking on Scott because he is asking an important
question that goes beyond physics.
I would answer this by saying it's not important, don't bother to teach
students any arbitrary conventions. The only reason we would need to
memorize arbitrary conventions would be if we ever intended to communicate
clearly with other people. If we are only concerned with understanding
things ourselves and we never intend to discuss our understanding with other
people, then each of us can adopt whatever conventions work for us. All
that each of us has to do is be internally consistent, and we each can
figure out how the world works, right?
Don't limit your decision to quit teaching arbitrary conventions to just +/-
signs on work and energy. Don't memorize any arbitrary conventions. For
example, don't memorize colors. Heck, green is just an arbitrary name we
give to the color that is traditionally used for signaling cars to proceed
at a traffic light. If you personally want to call that red, go right
ahead. But don't talk to my daughter (who is just learning to drive)
because she is using a different convention for colors, and if you tell her
she should proceed through the intersection when she sees the light is red,
you're going to jeopardize my daughter's life (and others as well). So go
have whatever color conventions you want, just don't talk to my daughter.
All language conventions are arbitrary. Who needs them? Only those people
who want to communicate with each other.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817