tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1380141071629108458.post7831639170974642440..comments2023-06-09T08:27:24.281-04:00Comments on Simon's Blog: It's not rocket science!simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199364196481082655noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1380141071629108458.post-4914058971334470222009-07-20T14:55:31.208-04:002009-07-20T14:55:31.208-04:00I don't know, I think I have a strange relatio...I don't know, I think I have a strange relationship with scientific vulgarization and it seems to me that a lot of it does not produce any understanding at all. The curse you mention would then be only we can't create a false sense of understanding as easily.<br /><br />As for the way to expose what I do to relatives, I'm still working on it but I think I got the simple case covered; when I am asked out of politeness what I do and that I sense that I have only one sentence, I answer: I study mathematics. This has the nice effect of eliminating such follow up questions as: "Oh you do computer science? Cool! Would you fix my computer?".<br /><br />For the follow up questions, I'm now exploring an exposition of the subject matter more as techniques for solving very large problems than applications of the computer.<br /><br />For some reasons, my explanation are still banned from polite company, as opposed to the discussion of a particularly shitty (literally!) intervention of a (nameless) family doctor who had to work on a patient's colon. Yeah, vulgarization is not something easy!Simon Hudonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00242250011205827501noreply@blogger.com