异类之不一样的成功启示录 第167期:用程序画一条同Y轴平行的直线

Renee was a nurse. She wasn't someone who had been particularly interested in mathematics in the past.

雷妮是个护士。过去，她从不像其他人那样对数学感兴趣。

But she had somehow gotten hold of the software well and was hooked.

但不知道为什么她被这个软件程序所吸引，并且被“套住了”。

"Now what I want to do is make a straight line with this formular, parallel to the y axis," she begins.

“现在，我所要做的就是用这个程序去画一条同Y轴平行的直线。”她开始说话。

Schoenfeld is sitting next to her. She looks over him anxiously. "It's been five years since I did any of this."

肖恩菲尔德坐在她身边，她焦虑地看着他。“从我开始做这个软件，到现在已经五年了。”

She starts to fiddle with the program, typing in different numbers.

她开始胡乱输入数据，敲着不同的数字。

"Now, if I change the slope that way... minus 1... now what I mean to do is make the line goes straight."

“现在如果我减去一，那么线就会变直。”

As she types in numbers, the line on the screen changes. "Oops, that's not going to do it." She looks puzzled.

随着她输入不同的数字，屏幕上的线也随之改变。“噢，这样好像行不通”。她看起来好像很费解。

"What are you trying to do?" Schoenfeld asks.

肖恩菲尔德问道：“你想做什么？”

"What I'm trying to do is make a straight line parallel to the y axis. What do I need to do here?

“我就是想画一条与Y轴平行的直线。我需要做些什么？

I think what I'm going to do is change this a little bit." She points at the place where the number for the y axis is.

我认为我应该再稍微移动一下。”她指着Y轴上的数字说道。

"That was something I discover. That when you go from 1 to 2, there was a rather big change.

“我发现了，当你把1换成2，就会看到斜线的角度发生很大的变化。”

But now if you get way up there, you have to keep changing." This is Renee's "glorious misconception."

“但是如果你这样做，你就得一直改动。”这就是雷妮的理解误区。

She's noticed the higher she makes the y axis coordinate, the steeper the line gets.

她发现在Y轴上所取得数值越大，线距离Y轴的角度就会越小。

So she thinks that the key to making a vertical line is just making the y axis coordinate large enough.

因此，她认为只要在Y轴上取得的数值足够大，那么就可以得到一条垂线。

"I guess 12 or even 13 could do it, maybe even as much as 15." She and Schoenfeld go back and forth.

“我想，取12或者13就可以得到一条垂线了。或者15。”她皱起眉说道。

She asks him questions. He prods too gently in the right direction. She keeps trying and trying, one approach after another.

她同肖恩菲尔德共同反复地探讨解决方案，肖恩菲尔德一点一滴地朝着正确的方向引导她。她一直试了又试，一次次接近目标。

At one point, she types in 20. The line gets a little steeper. She types in 40. The line gets steeper still.

这一次，她输入20，线只比原来的角度斜了一点点。她输入40，线依旧只倾斜了一点点。

"I see that there is a relationship there. As to why, it doesn't seem to make sense to me....

“我觉得这有些关联，但是至于为什么会这样，我始终想不明白。

What if I do 80? If 40 gets me halfway, then 80 should get me all the way to the y axis. So just let's see what happens."

如果我输入80呢？如果输入40，斜线已经与Y轴成45度，那么输入80就应该得到一条直线了。所以，我要输入80，看看结果如何。”