Framing Practicum

Much of the value I get from math is not from detailed calculations or elaborate models, but rather from framing tools: tools which suggest useful questions to ask, approximations to make, what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Each of these posts is meant to train/practice one mathematical framing tool.

The structure is like a trigger-action pattern: the hard part is to notice a pattern, a place where a particular tool can apply (the “trigger”). Once we notice the pattern, it suggests certain questions or approximations (the “action”). Each of these posts contains a Challenge to ingrain the abstract trigger-pattern, and a Bonus Exercise to practice applying the actions.

The hope is that practicing these tools will help us notice useful frames for problems we don’t understand - i.e. problems where we don't already know the best framing.