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#31478 06/07/01 02:32 PM
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If the equation "learning curve = acquired knowledge / elapsed time" is true, why do I regularly hear difficult tasks being described as having a "steep learning curve"? Mathematically speaking, a task which takes a long time to learn would have a flatter curve than a task which is quickly learned.


#31479 06/07/01 02:34 PM
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Is a task with a "steep learning curve" necessarily difficult? I always thought it meant a large numerator, that is, too much to learn in a short time, which would also give large values for "learning curve" according to your equation.


#31480 06/07/01 04:16 PM
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I think thowens is right. Whoever coined the phrase was associating "steep" with "difficult" and simply did not make a diagram of the graph he was thinking of .Fuzzy thinking.


#31481 06/07/01 04:28 PM
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One thing about this group is that it can completely destroy your impressions of words.

I honestly felt it meant (as I said above) too much learning in too short a time - therefore a steep climb to get to a plateau where you could be productive. That was how I'd always interpreted it, anyway!



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Anyone coining a new cliché should be required to have degrees in math, astronomy, mediæval history, art history, philosophy, biology and astrophysics at the very least. Probably quantum mechanics, too.


#31483 06/07/01 04:33 PM
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When I picture "the learning curve" graph, the x-axis is "time" and the y-axis is "proficiency". A skill with a steep learning curve is one where the graph skims the x-axis for a while, but at some point (when enlightenment is reached) the graph shoots up, with proficiency increasing exponentially. Chess (and other strategy games) are like this - much easier for an expert to improve her game than a novice. Games like Othello and Go, on the other hand have a graph where proficiency rises quickly at first, but soon plateaus (or continues rising, but slowly) - "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master" kind of thing. Saying that something difficult has a steep learning curve is misusing the phrase, not misdrawing the graph, IMHO.


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Hmm...that's a good idea, Faldage!


#31485 06/07/01 04:38 PM
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This is great - I had no idea how different everyone's mental images of learning curves were!


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" I couldn't fail to disagree less "

Dear Faldage: How marvelously confusing.


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just what I choose it to mean, neither more, nor less. The question is, which is to be master...

H. Dumpty

Linguistic Philosopher and Free Lance Fool


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