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I am currently finishing freshman year in YU and will soon have to figure out my major. I really don’t know what I want though. I would very much appreciate any input on the manner.
Here are my current options:
1. Psychology
2. Philosophy, focusing on ontology
3. Cosmology
4. Cosmetology (JK)
5. Drop out of YU, get a BTL and learn in kollel for the next 25 years.
6. Greek Literature with a focus on Homer (I can read Classical Greek pretty fluently).
7. Metaphysics (See #2)
8. Quantum Physics
9. Computer Science
I know many of you will recommend #9 because of the ability to easily get a job with it. I recognize that, but at the same time, I don’t particularly enjoy it. My mind tends to be much more abstract as my other choices indicate. I am constantly in awe of the grandeur of our universe and the 3 languages that it speaks, and I would love to focus on that instead.
1. The language of Mathematics. I could talk for hours about the beauty of Math and how it describes everything. I truly believe it is the language that God chose to express His Magnificence and Omnipotence. I am not talking about high school level math, but rather advanced areas of math, like linear algebra, Non-Euclidean Geometry, set theory, game theory, and other such fascinating subjects.
2. The language of Torah. Need I elaborate?
3. Lashon Hakodesh.
Anyway, I am so internally conflicted I am really going batty. Does anybody have suggestions?
Note: I do not necessarily intend on living my life based on what random people on the internet say, but I am interested in thoughts/suggestions.
Non-euclidian geometry is shtus. Euclid was right.
Why don’t you go to Hadar and major in Yiddishkeit?
Pre-med, and dental school.
Trollonomy.
“Non-euclidian geometry is shtus. Euclid was right.”
Non-Euclidian geometry is every bit as logical as Euclidian geometry, and it was discovered a century ago (by Einstein!) that it can describe the physical world better than Euclidian geometry. That certainly is not shtus.
“I don’t particularly enjoy it”
Do not under any circumstances consider doing something you don’t enjoy. You will have an unhappy life and regret it.
btl and sit in kollel for 25 years
with a brain like that you dont know how much torah will grow
I recommend no. 2, focusing on ontology. You can have a nice parnassah taking care of people with cancer.
I also recommend that you not be guided by the nudniks who give advice on this (or any other) web site.
why don’t you major in mathematics. that way you can study the beauty of math, and it can help you find a job in many fields. (you can combine it with a finance minor, take the SOA exams etc. or you can combine it with pre-med courses. it will make you stand out among the thousands of bio majors if you apply to medical school with a math degree)
Non-euclidian geometry is shtus. Euclid was right.
The shortest distance between 2 places is not always a straight line
If you fly from New York to London, the shortest distance is not a straight line but rather fly north to where the globe is smaller fly across the atlantic there and then fly south to London. Use a string on a globe and you will see this is true
Definitely cosmetology
Pulsing flower you have to fight!
zahavasdad wrote:
If you fly from New York to London, the shortest distance is not a straight line but rather fly north to where the globe is smaller fly across the atlantic there and then fly south to London. Use a string on a globe and you will see this is true
That is basically a straight line, we only think of it as not being one because we are used to looking at the round world on a flat map.
A true straight line would be to go through the inside of the sphere.
I dont think it is because it would look something like this
………………..
………………/……….
……………../…………
……………./………….. London/
……………/
…………New York
Just look at the lines and ignore the arrows
I believe Belz is doing that, on 38th Street off 13th Avenue. They’re preparing for faster flights to the other side of the globe. If you pass by, you could almost hear the people from China walking (upside down, of course).
Major in Floral arrangement.
Marry a rich girl and learn in kollel
let me give you an example of non-Euclidean geometry. Everybody knows a triangle has 180 degrees. Right?
NO! False! That only works on planes not spheres.
For example, assuming the Earth is a perfect sphere, draw a line from the center of the north pole to the equator. That line now forms a 90 degree angle with the equator. Now draw another line from the center of the north pole to the equator, but at a 90 degree angle to the first line. This line is also at a 90 degree angle with the equator. Now connect the 2 lines with another line drawn on the equator.
As you can see, there are three 90 degree angles in this triangle. And 3*90 is 270 degrees; way above 180.
Once we’re going there, let’s also give this example:
Imagine the world is an imperfect sphere, and draw a line from Lakewood to Tel Aviv, and then to the Mir, and then to the best cholent place on thursday night in Beis Yisroel, and then back to Lakewood. As is obvious, there are way more than 180 degrees!
Because neither one is a triangle. Triangle’s have three straight lines; not squiggles.
No, he’s just being incorrigible.
And either way, that is my point. Although the line is straight on the surface of the Earth, it can cause some interesting things to happen, because it is not really straight.
But it isn’t straight on the surface of the earth even if the earth was not a sphere, because it also goes over mountains and valleys.
In other words, it isn’t straight at all.
Def drop out of yu. What you do after that should be up for your debate
whats wrong with yu, rav shimon shkop taught there?
Quantum Physics might be interesting. You learn different things about the universe. Plus, you see how amazing Hashem made everything. Scientists are constantly frustrated that the universe isn’t what they thought.
I want to thank zahavasdad for illustrating the wisdom of my advice not to seek advice on a web site. He/she is not alone, but I think he/she did the best. Could you tell me where you bought the globe that is narrower at the North Pole (which is not the North Pole of course, but merely a representation of the North Pole), which you believe accounts for the unduly northerly direction of a flight from New York to London. All the globes I have ever seen are perfectly round.
Look back at the post that started this, tzadik. I believe I said ‘if the Earth was a perfect sphere’. Not to slight spheres who aren’t completely round, but they are not perfect. 🙁
So yes, it is straight on the surface.
Saying it is “straight on the surface” is meaningless, because you have qualified the term “straight” with “on the surface.” So it is only as straight as the surface is.
And a triangle as three straight lines.
nfgo3: I believe he/she was trying to bring out that the globes circumference gets narrower as you travel from the equator towards the northerly or southerly latitudes ( or longitudes? cant remember which is which)
The circumference of a globe is wider at the equator than say 70 degrees North latitute so the further north you fly the shorter the distance to circumnavigate the globe.
New York is about 40 Degrees North Latitude and London is about 50 Degrees north Latitude
Straight means different things in Euclidean space and non-Euclidean space.
Sure, and apparently triangles also means a different thing. If you just keep changing what words mean, you can do whatever you want.
I would choose greek literature with a focus on plato. Number one, its way better than the translations, no other language quite captures greek phraseology. Number two, fairy tales by disney are way better than illiads and odesseys (though frum people are slightly gaga over the odessey anyway), but socrates has no equal. Third, plato wrote a story about socrates and mathematics but homer was blind and illiterate. Finally, youll have something in common with your kids who will also like play dough.
I also recommend that you not be guided by the nudniks who give advice on this (or any other) web site.
Especially the nudnik who writes this:
I recommend no. 2, focusing on ontology. You can have a nice parnassah taking care of people with cancer.
Rotfl
I’m confused about the opening question’s premises. College is a means not an ends. As opposed to focusing on how to do the means with an indefinite goal, focus on defining the goal. Your real question is what should I do with my life. The correct answer to that depends on your circumstances. It is also your own job to define.
Thank you again, zahavasdad, for confirming my previous advice. You evidently do not understand that the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere (without leaving the surface)is a “great circle,” i.e., a line that precisely bisects the sphere into two halves of equal volume and identical shape. The equator on a globe is an example of a meridian, and so is the pole-to-pole meridian, but a great circle can between any two points on the surface of a sphere.
Maybe you should study ontology, so you can have a parnassah taking care of cancer patients.
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