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Re: Dumb (was molecular weight)



At 10:58 AM 5/13/2004, John D., you wrote:
A time-honored rule is to comment on the idea, not the
persons or groups who might be expressing the idea.
///
There are some people who seem to live by the rule
If you don't want to be ridiculed,
stop saying ridiculous things.
... which contains a partial truth, but misses a
couple of larger points. One problem is that all
of us say ridiculous things from time to time. Also,
just because an idea can be ridiculed doesn't always
mean it should be.


Which reminds me:
John D mentioned the binomial rule in deriving populations
of combined isotopic variants, which I used in working the numbers.

Mike Edmiston used a different proportion of combinations- possibly
a single contribution from each mixed isotopic molecule rather than John's
double contribution in deriving the accepted molecular mass of O2
(on average).

I wonder which of these is ..er.. correct?

A more puzzling aspect: the molecular mass/weight thread was an
example (of a kind) of interactive learning.
Do others get a sense of the greater emotional investment, and
the lack of ego-gratification which this method seems to carry?
Perhaps this is a live illustration of the paradoxical experimental
finding that better student uptake is associated with lower
esteem for the learning experience?



Brian Whatcott Altus OK Eureka!