Blame Nimitz...

Why does Honor Harrington struggle with math?

Her empathic link to Nimitz enables him to gain some insight into mathamatics but also enables his confusion to inhibit Honor's ability.

My theory is that she is actually brilliant at maths. How else could she seemingly intuitively sense the perfect action to take in fleet combat? However having to spell it out step by step is a problem. Fifty odd years ago I ended up topping my state in maths, but got into trouble for just writing out the answer, without going through the steps.

TFLYTSNBN wrote:Why does Honor Harrington struggle with math?

Her empathic link to Nimitz enables him to gain some insight into mathamatics but also enables his confusion to inhibit Honor's ability.

Probably for the same reason that RFC mentions Honor as a crack shot with firearms, etc., a skilled pilot, etc. -- she got good at the "here to there" aspect of things very early in her life... without the doing the "4 dimensional math".

Personal experience here. I would never win a shooting competition because I'd overthink the math. Yet when out rabbit hunting as a youth, I was deadlier with a one-shot LR than my peers with their semi- 22's firing a half dozen or more shots... if the animal was moving, or there was any kind of odd angle or range to the target. Sort of a mental "there, then now" thing my brain managed to do... unless I thought about it.

Similarly, when flying sailplanes, you really have to know your glide ratio(s) at different weights and speeds as part of your flight plan, but once in the air, that same sort of mental overdrive just does the math, and you just fly the dang plane, mostly visually. You get to where you "just know" where you need to be when to get the bird back on the ground safely.

But if I were planning a battle action, which even in the Honorverse is primarily a "time on target" exercise, I'd be like Honor. "Check my work..." all the many times like she did in OBS.

TFLYTSNBN wrote:Why does Honor Harrington struggle with math?

Her empathic link to Nimitz enables him to gain some insight into mathamatics but also enables his confusion to inhibit Honor's ability.

That’s not how it works.

TFLYTSNBN wrote:Why does Honor Harrington struggle with math?

Her empathic link to Nimitz enables him to gain some insight into mathamatics but also enables his confusion to inhibit Honor's ability.

"Because someone was always phucking with her, breaking her concentration causing her to always forget to carry the 1." LOL

So says one of my crazy friends.

Duckk wrote:

TFLYTSNBN wrote:Why does Honor Harrington struggle with math?

Her empathic link to Nimitz enables him to gain some insight into mathamatics but also enables his confusion to inhibit Honor's ability.

That’s not how it works.

How does it work?
Cite text or commentary from Weber.

To go meta here, I’d say it’s because it allows HH to have a weakness that isn’t actually a weakness while retaining the “(wo)man-of-action“ persona. After all, four dimensional math after the pure theory is done is mostly just work for computers.

GloriousRuse wrote:To go meta here, I’d say it’s because it allows HH to have a weakness that isn’t actually a weakness while retaining the “(wo)man-of-action“ persona. After all, four dimensional math after the pure theory is done is mostly just work for computers.

Reasonably true -- but the computers can only figure out the how and when. Tactically, that's important but the "what and why" and other humans in the equation are the problem. If a person can quickly figure out too many permutations, you're suddenly in the land of paralysis by analysis... which is [not coincidentally] why I'm a very good chess player, but not a great one. There are times I overplay the game.

I might actually argue that most of the later RMN captains are at least as good as HH when she was a captain -- because of the buildup of institutional experience. There are times they are into execution where HH would still be figuring or re-figuring it out.

SharkHunter wrote:

GloriousRuse wrote:To go meta here, I’d say it’s because it allows HH to have a weakness that isn’t actually a weakness while retaining the “(wo)man-of-action“ persona. After all, four dimensional math after the pure theory is done is mostly just work for computers.

Reasonably true -- but the computers can only figure out the how and when. Tactically, that's important but the "what and why" and other humans in the equation are the problem. If a person can quickly figure out too many permutations, you're suddenly in the land of paralysis by analysis... which is [not coincidentally] why I'm a very good chess player, but not a great one. There are times I overplay the game.

I might actually argue that most of the later RMN captains are at least as good as HH when she was a captain -- because of the buildup of institutional experience. There are times they are into execution where HH would still be figuring or re-figuring it out.

To add to that, with Honor's leadership and teaching abilities, her "school of thought" has permeated the RMN and GSN, and to a degree, forced such thought into the RHN and IAN. The old book was based off small skirmishes, and theortical wargames of fleet problems. Honor, Hamish, and others brought in current thinking, and a Generation of leaders have risen in their shaddow, learning in their stead, and being forced to find solutions to their tactics. Tie that to darwinean selection by combat, and you have massive groups of commanders and junior officers which have a high % of those outstanding leader's abilities and competence.

Duckk wrote:

TFLYTSNBN wrote:Why does Honor Harrington struggle with math?

Her empathic link to Nimitz enables him to gain some insight into mathamatics but also enables his confusion to inhibit Honor's ability.

That’s not how it works.

Perhaps it isn't how it works, but I can certainly understand the notion. Humans are influenced, even subtly, by the company we keep. Mindsets can be altered by who we hang out with. Ask your parents if you don't believe me. Any parent will tell you that your friends can cause you to jump off a bridge with them. LOL

But seriously, bilingualism can affect the sharpness of ones thoughts. You may not think as sharply in another language, wrestling with the mechanics of the language that may not flow as smoothly as your own tongue. My foreign friends constantly tell me that, and they speak English quite well. They reset back to their own tongue in cases where deep thought and concentration is required. I'd hate to dismiss it out of hand that whatever form of communication exists between the two doesn't affect her in some way. Subtly or not.

The problem with the notion is the period Honor began to communicate with Nimitz was long after her problems with math. So that in itself may help dispell the notion of the M ND BL ND leading the BL ND.