I had no idea that people struggled with this so much and have come up with such crazy (to me) ways of figuring it out.
Most of the world, if asked to write down numbers 1-100 on a line, would do so left to right. The < and > symbols are arrows pointing left and right. To the left the numbers decrease (less than) and to the right the numbers increase (greater than).
All this stuff about crocodiles and ducks seems like such a bizarre way to remember it!
A mnemonic device is a mnemonic device.
I think about how the symbols have two sides, one is a point (small side) and the other is wide (big side)
Your explanation is no less crazy lol.
I think about it the same way I think about + and -. I don’t think at all. I just know.
Maybe it’s because I’m a programmer and I encounter comparators more than addition and subtraction.
And then here’s me having to have my wife help my daughter with her middle school math assignments because they entirely mystify me.
I know that you can pronounce the emoticon <3 as less than three and it has for whatever reason replaced the crocodile mnemonic.
I <3 u >
I got a zero on a math test in second grade because I said “the bigger number is on the bigger side” instead of “the crocodile wants to eat the bigger number”, fuck you 2nd grade math teacher who made me hate math by being the thought police.
I never understood why so many people seemingly struggle with these signs to the point they need a mnemonic. The big side points to the big number and the small side to the small one. What even is there to remember?
Yeah, the symbol is the mnemonic. What does the crocodile even explain? Why doesn’t the bigger number eat the smaller numbers?
Yeah. It would be like saying “Oh, when I see a stop sign, I think to myself they’re the same colour a traffic light turns to when you’re supposed to stop, so I remember to stop”
Look at Dr. Postdoc here
That’s Mr. Dr. Professor Postdoc to you!
My Mama says that alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush
big side, big number
It’s a thing that I’ve always thought that people over-complicate. It’s just there, the small side with the small number the big side with the big number…
“The entirety of the small number constitutes a relatively smaller portion of the big number. Thus, the open side of > points to the smaller number to indicate that it’s a magnified view within the larger number.”
I hope this helps overcomplicate things for you. We must all return to crocodile.
Crocodile? Are you guys from Florida? In Europe we learned it as duck beak, it just makes much more sense, where are the teeth? Nowhere it’s not an alligator mouth it’s a beak
I’m from Europe and I learned it as a wale (and I’m from southern Europe)
In the pre-digital age when most of this was pencil markings, it was not uncommon to see someone had drawn the teeth in.
I learned it as Pac Man.
Nah fam, if your bird looks like that it’s probably dead. I also learnt it as the crocodile in Germany
Duck, crocodile, they’re both archosaurs. Which means if it’s either, they should have a premaxillar fenestra on the lower jaw, but I’m not seeing any. Clearly, this must be a possum.
I’m thinking horribly mangled German bank executive with a lisp 🤷
Nono, we don’t do math in Florida anymore. Also we’d be more likely to use “alligator” (tho we have plenty of both)
A greedy crow is what they told me
Are you a programmer? I’ve never struggled with them either, but I’ve had a lot of exposure to them due to programming since I was like 11
For a while, I’ve seen “<” and “>” as a slanted “=”, which is to say, these numbers are not equal, and the larger side is the larger number and the smaller side is the smaller number.
Works for me, IDK.
But shouldn’t it be 8 < 1 because the eight is heavier and squeezes the bars of the = together?
I’m with you, the croc is an opportunist and will eat the smaller, easier prey.
No, since it’s bigger it stretches the lines apart :)
But shouldn’t it be 8 < 1
That would be a pair of scissors, on its way to cut the number 1.
its not a scale exactly but the size of the ends shows the size of the numbers.
Somehow, people don’t teach this interpretation at schools. (Despite it being so obvious that it was clearly the original reasoning behind the symbols.) And then nobody talks about the fact that nobody knows how to read them, forever.
Mine had something about crossing a line through the symbol and seeing if it makes a 4 or a 7. Honestly, “the crocodile wants to eat the big number” is still better than this.
This is only tangentially related but I’ve noticed an increase in people saying backslash instead of slash when speaking an internet address aloud. I think many more people struggle with / vs \ than > vs <.
Just to note, backslash or forward slash refers to the side the slash falls to.
I remember it because I’m old and was into computers before the internet. Local drive was backslash "" as a directory separator and online it was slash “/”.
Whoever my first teacher who taught me this did over complicate it, because when I wrapped my brain around bigger side equals bigger number and smaller side equals smaller (much later than I should have) it was a revelation and also seemed ridiculous it didn’t start out that simple.
Thinking of an alligator is more fun though.
“It’s always pointing to the smaller number” is what my elementary teacher said 2<3
The teacher who first taught me told me “Pac Man wants to get the most points” and that stuck with me
Thanks I finally understood this thread, kept thinking people were viewing the crocodile/duck/whatever from above
Surely in theoretical physics, the most common use of
is in a ket (eg.|ψ>).Crocodile want to eat cactus ?
That cactus is the devil!
arguably, it’s |ψ〉, which is not the same as >
wow that’s a big difference (I have no idea what you are talking about)
It is just a notation for linear algebra and linear operators on complex vector spaces together with their dual space both in the finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional case. Really quite simple stuff actually…
smiles and nods, smiles and nods…
I think 〉 means a very hungry (or at least large mouthed) crocodile, and > is just a normal one.
No? Not everyone’s doing work on quantum systems. Far from it. Most people do not need to use Dirac notation.
I guess not. Its just that when I hear ‘theoretical physics’ I immediately think of particle physics (and related fields). I have this idea that in most branches of physics people just say the topic, eg. astronomy, material sciences, or whatever; and don’t usually specify whether they are doing theoretical work or experimental/empirical work. But in particle physics … my impression is that people are more likely to specify. Anyway, that’s just my own bias I guess.
“Points at the smaller thing”
Every time I watch a student stall out on inequalities I ask “it’s the crocodile isn’t it?”. Without fail, they’ve got confused by it and as soon as they hear “points at the smaller thing” they have no issues.
yeah its literally a graph. the bigger side is the bigger number. the smaller, surprise, smaller number.
<3 is “less than three”, and 3 is “three” so logically < is “less than”
I try this, but I always get <3 mixed up with Ɛ>
#cursed
Also < looks like an L at an angle
aww love you too bro <3
Directions are one of the most confusing aspect tbh. Bounding is difficult…
I earned it as the larger part being on the side of the bigger number
.<:
MesseR Rechts, GabeL Links.
Every single time when setting up dishes on the table.
