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Thursday, Mar 02, 2006 - 22:52 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

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Wrong on So Many Counts

So the results of the Economics mid-semester test came back, and the first question which I thought I got wrong transpired to be correct. Never been so happy on having the tables turned. The final score was pretty alright too.

The tendency to make hurried adjustments to undecided problems has cost me dearly over the years, and I have somehow never managed to rid myself of the habit. Generally, when I am not sure about a question and are forced to guess, the initial selection turns out to be correct more often than not - Note to self: Never switch choices unless you have a good reason to (i.e. figured it out with certainty).

Recall the story of the man who wasn't upset when his horse ran away, wasn't pleased when it brought back a wild steed, wasn't sad when his son was thrown off the untamed bronco and broke his leg, and presumably wasn't delighted when he avoided conscription and probable death due to that disability?

My Automata Theory test mirrored that. Glad I didn't spend too much time on preparation because it was open-book and required creative solutions anyway, but ended up realising the answers close to the end and didn't have enough time to describe the answers as in-depth as I hoped to.

Then on the bus, I went white when I realised that Question Two referred to Figure One (conveniently printed on the back page) and not Question One. Damn. That's 8/25 marks down the drain immediately.

Cursing myself, I studied Figure One belatedly and it dawned on me that the essential part of the automata (made up of states and arrows connecting them to each other, for the uninitiated) queried in part (a), worth four marks, turned out exactly the same in my Question One automata (which I constructed from a totally unrelated description)!

There was absolutely no reason for it to, since I could have arranged the states in another way - there were many possible machines which could generate that language. But even the state numbers q0, q1 and q2 matched exactly. What was a potential disaster evaporated into a mere inconvenience.

Ah, I owe the Lady a kiss, the one with emerald eyes.



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