FLOW QQC

Quote: "Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy."

Question: Why do they say that happiness is a condition?

Comment: The way that they put how happiness is a condition it's like their saying that happiness is something that must be worked at so hard. To gain true happiness you don't have to work hard for it, it usually just comes it isn't prepared. And what do they mean by inner experiences is as close as to happiness we can come?

Daniel Pink on mastery (from the book Drive)

Quote: "A little kid's life bursts with autotelic experiences. Children careen from one flow moment to another, animate by a sense of joy, equipped with a mindset of possibility, and working with the dedication of a West Point cadet."

Question: So if children have a incredible mindset,they feel pain in their lives, and they have an imagination all their own creating their own journey's they achieve mastery?

Comment: If all it takes to achieve mastery is to pursue mastery,overcome pain, and have a journey then kids have already achieved mastery.

50 Life secrets and tips

Quote: step 17-"sleep less"

Question: How would changing sleep cycles make or lives better?

Comment: The thing about this quote that I really like was the fact that he was saying the exact opposite of what we have been told practically our whole lives. We are usually told that more sleep is healthy and good for us (we as teens mostly don't care about I being healthy for us, we just like to sleep) but he is counter-arguing that changing your sleep cycle could better your life.

Project Proposal

A project that we build a mini half pipe or a quarter pipe skateboard ramp. We can apply mathematics to building this because building is mostly using math concepts. We would need to figure out how tall, wide, depth and a radius so that it could have a nice consistive curve. I think that it could be a fun project to do while also using math to build it.

This link is of a mini half pipe blueprint

(http://www.rickdahlen.com/hpplans/Halfpipe.pdf)

This link is of a quarter pipe blueprint

(http://www.xtremeskater.com/ramp-plans/quarter-pipe/)

The book of numbers chapter 1 QQC 2/19/11

Quote: "One of the reasons why people over the centuries have believed that the number one has deep mystical significance is because of mathematicians."

Question: Why would people believe the mathematicians and them saying how the number one has mystical powers behind it?

Comment: The thing about this reading that interested me was how crazed some are about the number one. Like people actually think that there are mystical powers or significance behind the number. I mean it's just a number. How can anyone tell the true meaning/significance behind the number one?

The book of numbers chapter 0.000000001 2/11/11

Quote: "It is perhaps ironic that the most well-known math theorem, Pythagoras' theorem, may have been proved by one of his followers and not him."

Question: How did they find out that this theorem came from Pythagoras or one of his followers, if they don't have any record from that time how do they know that it came from one of them?

Comment: This quote stood out to me because how can they really tell who came up with the theorem, because if they have no record then how do they really know. And if Pythagoras really didn't come up with the theorem then he would be getting credit for a really well-known formula when he might not have figured it out.

The book of numbers reading chapter 0 2/7/11

Quote: " The trick they used was very simple: as warriors left to go to battle, they put a rock in a pile. When they got home again, they each removed one. The number of rocks left equaled the number of men lost. The chief would then remove each rock in turn and pick up a stick for each rock her removed (sticks are easier to carry). He then would walk to the other tribe with his sticks and demand a buffalo in exchange for each one. So without actually counting or even understanding the notion of numbers, it was possible for very precise trades and transactions to take place."

Question: Why would the tribe leaders agree to giving away their buffalos to the tribe that they just fought?

Comment: This quote was interesting to me because I was wondering why the tribe chiefs would agree to give away their buffalos to their rival tribes. And I also found it interesting how their putting a rock, taking a rock, and getting buffalos method worked out. Because they might have lost men, but they also gained more buffalos so more food. But what about when all of their warriors die? How would they fight and would they still keep the trading buffalos treaty?

Gauss Reading

Quote: "Early in this period-perhaps at the age of 14 or 15- he discovered the prime number theorem, which was finally proved in 1896 after great efforts by many mathematicians."

Question: How can someone so young figure out a theorem that many mathematicians couldn't figure out?

Comment: This quote interested me because Gauss figured out a theorem that mathematicians had a hard time figuring out and they were about half (or more) his age, and they probably had more experience than he did. But yet he figured that out before them and they finally had proved his theorem many years after he had.

Euler Reading QQC

Quote: "The French physicist Arago, in speaking of Euler's incomparable mathematical facility remarked that 'He calculated without apparent effort, as men breath, or as eagles sustain themselves in the wind.' "

Question: What does it mean when it says that Arago was speaking of Euler's incomparable mathematical facility? Was he stating that Euler was that good at math that no man could compare to how good he was.

Comment: I picked this quote because I really like the analogy that Arago gave for Euler's mathematical genius. He compared how Euler was so good at math and he did it without any effort just like a eagle keeps themselves flying in the wind. The part where it says "speaking of Euler's incomparable mathematical facility," kind of confused me because I was wondering, was there anyone who really compared or was on the same level as Euler was on the terms of mathematical genius.

Leibniz Reading QQC 1/4/10

"Leibniz lived in a period when it was still possible - as his own astounding career demonstrated - for a very highly intelligent and hard-working scholar to absorb all the knowledge of his time."

Are they saying that it is still not possible in any other period that a intelligent and hard-working scholar can absorb all the knowledge of his time? or was it only possible during Leibniz' time?

This quote confused me because I didn't understand if they were saying that no other intelligent and hard-working scholar can absorb all of the knowledge of their time, unless they lived during Leibniz' time period. Because there are some people in our time that could absorb all of that knowledge, if they really wanted to.