Entry #2 – Conjunction, Disjunction, Negation, oh my!

In lecture this week we were introduced to conjunction (^) and disjunction (v). Having Python coding experience, I found the concepts of the two easy to follow. (E.g. if one element is False using conjunction, the whole statement is False, while with disjunction the whole statement is True).

However, I did find it a bit confusing keeping track of the way conjunction & disjunction are used in comparison to how we use it in English, which required me to look over the concept a couple of times in my notes.

We were also introduced to Truth Tables, which I find much more useful/easier to understand than the Venn diagrams. I used them frequently while working on the assignment to check whether certain implications were equal to each other as well as convincing myself that the De Morgan’s Law was true (obviously it was…otherwise it wouldn’t be a Law now would it?). 

As for the quiz in tutorial…well my answer wasn’t exactly the same as the one Danny e-mailed us after, so I’m not so sure on the result. 

Things are starting to get a little more complicated in this course, so reviewing my notes is a must from now on. Let's hope I don't get to this point:

Entry #1 - Quantifiers

This week in lecture we focused on quantifiers which usually involved matching statements with functions. To help illustrate these ideas, we were introduced to Venn Diagrams that show whether each of the four regions may be empty or occupied (?), not occupied (X), or occupied (O).

At first, I found the concept of the Venn Diagrams a bit difficult to wrap my head around. In order to understand them further I reviewed my notes and re-did the examples from previous lectures. The concept is fairly clear to me now, and as a visual learner, I feel as though mastering the use of the Venn diagrams will help me further in the course.

Overall I'm finding the idea of quantifiers as claims about sets fairly straight forward. The quiz during the lab went well, so I'd say this .gif does a good job summing up how I'm feeling so far.