Advice from a Textbook

[stringsthings]

interesting excerpt from a library book:

... at this point in your academic career, you have probably solved many problems.  Many of them were homework problems done quickly after skimming the problem write-up and frantically paging through the book to find an appropriate formula.  After plugging in the numbers and performing the calculations, the answer is compared with those in the back of the book.  If the answer checks out, then on to the nest problem.  If not, the process was repeated again, with perhaps a different formula.  Only after numerous (  ) failures to achieve the book's answer will the average student reread the problem to make sure of the facts given and verify just what is required in the form of an answer.  Very often at this juncture comes the realization that the problem write-up is asking for something completely different from what you initially thought.  A simple change in direction will now often lead to the successful solution.  And so it is with the educational process and life - as the pace of our lives continues to go faster and faster ...

Electronics: Project Management and Design
D. Joseph Stadtmiller

[arawn]

yup that pretty much describes me   

[haroldjenkins]

I like that excerpt. It somewhat describes the way I often solved problems. But I have found after all this time is that knowledge gained the hard way is hardly forgotten.

At least the method he described is better than just copying the answers from the back of the book!

[waltk]

I really like that quote... How eloquently put.

I just had a flashback to my first job out of school, when a senior guy in the department said "you know what 'assume' does, right?  Makes an ass out of you and an ass out of me."

So now it seems like kind of a tired old cliche', but there's definitely some truth to it.  It's a corollary to the quote in the OP.  Skimming the problem statement leads to assumptions that end in a bad solution.

I've been beat over the head with this concept enough times (in real-world scenarios) that I usually manage to avoid it now...  Young guys - pay attention!