Post-conference high

Before the feels fade and the high subside, I just want to document that I had a really great time in this year's MSP Region 10, 12 & BARMMM annual convention. I think it's the most fun conference I've attended, to date. I've been to a couple conferences in other MSP Regions, and conferences in math education but I think what makes this special is that most participants in this conference are my cohort. My peers who I used to only interact virtually I saw face-to-face. It was fun discussing math and everyone being enthusiastic about it. You could see collaborations forming after presentations. I don't think I will have a collaboration from it but it doesn't matter. This is me dipping my toes in the math ocean. I crave community and I got it. So many more things to reflect on but that will be reserved to my private journal. We gotta move forward, baby. No time to dwell.

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Hierarchy of D-classes determined by rank

The D-classes have a certain type of hierarchy. And to illustrate this, I'll give relevant properties of the rank of a transformation. The first property is that the rank of a product of two transformations is less than or equal to the minimum of the individual ranks. Let's flesh this out some more. Let's start with what I call the nobility in this hierarchy--the permutations. The noble class would like their wealth and power to stay within their class or family. How do they do that? The idea is to marry someone with the same social class as you are. It's a very common trope in movies and TV. So in the same way, for an "offspring" of a permutation to have the full rank still, both of its "parents" should be permutations. rank(ab)=n if and only if rank(a)=rank(b)=n As part of group theory, we study permutations. This is because a group is embedded in a permutation group by Cayley's theorem. In the finite case, every group of order n is isomorphi...

I can't finish watching Laggies...

Why am I bothered by Laggies ? So much so that I don’t like finishing it? I guess the main character is about to make wrong decisions. And that gives me anxiety. I’m screaming at the screen, “No! Don’t do that”. But of course, they still do. Of course. I already know how this is gonna end. Why does it bother me so much when technically she’s not doing anything wrong? Oh yes, she’s gonna hurt her fiance when she inevitably breaks off their engagement. And? I don’t know. As I said, I don’t like it when characters make wrong decisions. She’s running away because she discovered that her father is having an affair. And instead of confronting him, she’s living with a teenager and her dad. And of course, she’s gonna fall in love with the dad. Predictable. I guess I just don’t like it when I don’t have control over things. The question is: will my worrying ever change the outcome? No. Definitely not. It’s all predetermined. But why am I worried on behalf of the main character? Even if she...

Anthem by Ayn Rand: Individualism vs Collectivism (reaction pre-pandemic)

I read Anthem by Ayn Rand before the pandemic happened. So my thoughts and opinions are not colored by people's reaction to the pandemic (e.g. anti-maskers). First off, I disagree with Ms. Rand's over-arching thesis that selfishness is always good. Too much individuality has made me feel alienated from other people. The best feelings that I had are when I feel connected to other people. The following quote resonated with me because I'm usually secretive with my thoughts and opinions. I don't share my thoughts freely that's why i have a private twitter account. It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. But according to the "document, don't create" philosophy you should share to the world your progress and don't just keep it to yourself. You might as well get constructive feedback and mee...

Janeth Canama

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