ya..... wrote:
First, I can tell you never got past calculus in college because you thing everything in math is plug-and-chug. Second, you haven't taken a single programming course in your life. If you think programming is so "rote", go to the IBM ACS website and solve a single one of those problems with nothing but a whiteboard and computer. I rest my case.
Right on both counts, sort of. Actually, I never got in to calculus. But, I don't mean to imply that there is zero degree of reasoning skills involved in any of the three disciplines, nor that to do them well you don't need to have good reasoning skills. I said that those three lend themselves towards being able to be learned in a rote manner, and then exploited to good effect (at least that's what I was trying to say/imply).
Math, to me, forms the basis of all logic and reasoning, and so it seems paradoxical to suggest that one could be good at it and at the same time not be good at reasoning. However, again, my calculator example. I know that people are not calculators, but the example is only meant to show that the possibility exists. Surely no normal person would know basic math and have no true reasoning skills. But, it doesn't necessarily follow that even a person who is good at math has good reasoning skills. Exhibit a.) Rainman. OK, he isn't normal, but again, the possibility.
To put it in a nutshell, surely with increased ability in the three subjects, math, science, and computer programming, there will be an increased level of ability in reasoning skills. What I would like to say is that I think, in general, Japanese tend to lag in reasoning skills in proportion to their abilities in those areas.
I almost hate saying these things because it sounds like I'm bashing Japanese, but that isn't the case.