On 14/02/2015 09:10 PM, Doctor John wrote:
> Aha! The real Andrew is back.

Will the real Mathematical Orchid please stand up...

> An interesting read - have you ever thought of taking up teaching?

Erm... I've thought about it. But I've yet to see a class of people who 
actually *want* to learn stuff.

* Nobody at school wanted to learn a damn thing.
* The people at college were only there so they didn't have to get an 
actual job. None of them seemed that bothered if they get their 
qualification, never mind what grades they get.
* At university, everybody wanted the best grades, but nobody cared 
about the actual subject. They just wanted a nice piece of paper.
* I went on a Microsoft technology course. Everybody wanted the bit of 
paper, nobody really cared about the actual course content. Most of them 
were only there because their employer paid for it.

In short, I haven't come across a lesson where people are there because 
they actually *want* to learn something. Most of them are just seem to 
want the bit of paper that makes employers think they're awesome.



The fun part is when the *teacher* doesn't particularly want to teach. 
I'm sure I've told you about Mr Apathy, who I met at uni. I prefaced a 
lecture on binary by saying "of course you don't *really* need to know 
any of this. It's pointless really. I mean, the Java virtual machine 
handles all of this for you. But it's in the exam, so I'm supposed to 
teach it to you". Damn, I'm sold! Sign me up!!

Mind you, this was the same guy who spent ten minutes disinterestedly 
explaining how "pointless" the rebuilding of Colossus is. "I mean, it 
won't be the *actual* machine that they used. It's just a replica. And 
they don't make half the parts any more, so they'll have to change the 
parts and redesign the circuitry to compensate, and at the end of all 
that, it'll be so different from the original that there's just no point."

Not my favourite lecturer. :-P

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