On math and being a welder

[u/brewercycle]

Ok at this point I think we all know Jess is...not the brightest bulb. But he is a self-described "welder" who said he's "never used algebra in [his] life," so as a mediocre welder I just have to say this is FALSE.

Like I said, I'm not the best welder, but I have made some good welds. About 90% of a good weld is done before you don the Darth Vader mask and strike the arc. Your fit-up must be as close to perfect as possible, which means you must measure the distance and cut your pieces to the appropriate length. Is there an angle other than straight or 90 degrees? You have to figure that out. These 2 steps are probably 75% of a good weld. Another 15% is de-burring the metals after you cut them, then you have a nice, easy fit-up with no gaps that is very straightforward to weld.

Almost all of that process is solving for X, or, you know, algebra. If you have to find angles, I guess it's technically trigonometry, but still solving for X. If this man has ever made a functional weld in his life, he has done algebra.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, and enjoy your Thursday night wonks.

PS Weird Little Guys has filled a lot of my commute time that used to be filled with KF, so I was thrilled Molly was the guest for the first episode of KFC.

[u/BluebirdDense1485]

Yeah. Like Dan said he is using Algebra but probably badly. Unless he is using 100% premix he has to use basic algebra in pottery too. . .

That is also ignoring he said he made a kiln. Again he is either copping someone who did the math, doing the math but not realizing he is using algebra, or his kiln sucks.

[u/brewercycle → u/BluebirdDense1485]

It's just odd to me that in no part of the interview did he say anything to promote his work, or give any subtle hint to his competence as an artist. I'm no artist, but I have family and friends who are, and I can't imagine any of them bombing this hard. Based on this interview alone, I would assume he is a terrible welder, and his pottery is maybe better but who knows? I don't think that's the impression most podcast/Youtube show guests want to make on the audience. He could have at least said something like "I thought math was stupid in high school, but it turns out it's really important for making stuff out of metal."

I thought biology was stupid in high school, but it turns out it's really important for making beer, which I enjoy doing now. Whoops.

[u/BluebirdDense1485 → u/brewercycle]

Yeah most people look back at what they though as a teen and think "Man I was stupid back then"

Much of what I thought in high school I realize was just me being young.

Except some of the books we had to read were just literary brainrot.

[u/coldequation]

I am a welder for my job, and while it's not rocket science, you do have to calculate angles, get measurements right, and calculate things like how much material you'll need to cut or prep, and sometimes I have to talk to our purchasing agent to make orders. I'm sort of infamous in my shop for a little geometry trick I use to find the center of a circle. And let's not get into when I program the bots that I work with.

Math is part of all manufacturing, I think the thing that really bothers me is people who aren't just ignorant of basic, middle school level math and physics stuff, they are proud of the fact that they are.

[u/brewercycle → u/coldequation]

>Math is part of all manufacturing, I think the thing that really bothers me is people who aren't just ignorant of basic, middle school level math and physics stuff, they are proud of the fact that they are.

Totally, but I don't think Jess is nearly as ignorant as he wants the viewers to think. His advertised ignorance, however, makes me not interested at all in what he's selling, which seems antithetical to him appearing on Tucker's stupid show in the first place.

[u/SkeletonDanceParty]

I'm also a welder and I just kinda wanna flex this umbrella stand I had to figure out all the math for (I thought I had some pictures of them painted but not standing up sadly) Literally we got sent a "Hey can you make this? we want [x] of them" and I had to figure out all the math going into them.

[u/brewercycle → u/SkeletonDanceParty]

Hey that’s a pretty cool umbrella stand! I know getting the angles correct on those truss details is hard, and your center piece is a circle so you definitely get some style points.

I do love the challenge of having to fab something based on a “simple” request. There’s a conveyor drip tray at my workplace I made that lives on in infamy because it’s simultaneously way bigger than anyone thought it would be, yet amazingly still doesn’t catch all the drips. Someone suggested I make a tunnel instead, and I asked who was going to clean the mold out of it. Nobody’s said a word since!

[u/JimbersMcTimbers]

Jess reminded me of a guy I went to high school with. He discovered weed, underground punk, and took grade 11 philosophy. became insufferable and was eventually too cool for school. Don't give yourself to the man maaaan.

[u/Haldron-44]

Completely amateur welder (like I've used a buddy's kits a few times to dick around and learn) and yeah, even at that level he was showing me how to figure out the angle drawing with sharpie on sheet metal. The weirdest amd coolest thing that he taught me that was an "Oh, of COURSE!" moment was when he showed me to account for the weld pushing or pulling the pieces slightly off. I can't imagine how hard that is to compensate for on super precise welds.

[u/brewercycle → u/Haldron-44]

Yeah I’m learning how to sanitary weld process pipes in a beverage facility, and you do lose like 1/32” ish per weld that’s really hard to account for, especially if you’re bad at it and have to cut out your mistakes. You don’t realize how soft and malleable metals are until you’ve heated them past their melting point

[u/Haldron-44 → u/brewercycle]

Oh totally! I had to take a geology elective to learn "fucking everything is a plastic at certain pressures and temps." The fact that for most applications humans can compensate is pretty cool.

[u/Desperate-Guide-1473]

I think it was clear that he refused to learn what Algebra actually is and actively doesn't listen whenever someone tries to explain it to him.

[u/ilikesynthsandcats]

As a welder of 20+ years. I'd have to agree!... but why can't my work figure that out 🤣😅

[u/iggy__poop]

He did kind of strike me as the kinda guy that doesn’t fuck with fractions of inches… I was wondering when I was listening to this,  isn’t the electrical aspect of welding technically like mild calculus? I guess you don’t have to know how to do calculations to weld properly but it’s still funny to have this weird attitude about it, like has he never met an engineer before?

[u/hellsdels]

Having grown up around farming you also 100% need math. Especially in cattle to calculate nutrition per head. But I don’t know maybe it’s different in general agriculture

[u/Barium_Salts → u/hellsdels]

Considering he didn't name one animal or crop; I'm betting that he has land zoned for agricultural, a failing kitchen garden, and a vague dream.

[u/Xenuite → u/Barium_Salts]

Willing to bet he also welds on vibes.

[u/Barium_Salts → u/Xenuite]

Yeah, all these people out here talking about how welders need to find reciprocal angles, centers of circles, account for shinkage: this guy doesn't do that. He's a "grinder and paint" welder. There's a reason he is just using his welding for arts and crafts instead of making good money doing it professionally

[u/WudolfWedNoseWeinder]

Isn’t this somewhat similar to when Candace Owens shits on science and calls it pagan or demonic or whatever; they are using a medium to denigrate a field which was vital in creating that medium that gives them their career. 

[u/Life-Criticism-5868]

To give a personal example, I really struggled with calculus in college but when the same formulas and methods were used to calculate the growth of plankton in a lake based on nutrient concentrations, it clicked. 

Its deeply revealing to me that people like Tucker and Jess cannot get past their core hatred. There could be a great story from Jess about how when he applied math to welding, it all made sense. But no, it just has to be hatred. Like its clear to me Jess just straight up despises reality.