One difficult part of the reading is quickly remembering what the symbols and notations mean. I really have to stop and think about what the statements P=>Q and ~P^Q are saying in English. As time passes, I'm sure my mind will process the new language more quickly. It is very difficult to know the truth or falseness of statements without writing up a truth table. I can see that truth tables are very useful, especially since the following situation is a little confusing:
If P is false then Q is true. This is still a true statement. The realization is that I'll have to trust the truth table. I'll also try to remember the effective example from class. "If you get your pajamas on, then you'll get ice cream." Even if the kids get ice cream without putting on pajamas, the statements wasn't a lie to the kids.
I am really looking forward to mathematical application of this study in logic. An example in the text began with the phrase: "Let R be a mathematical statement that we would like to show is true." It gave me some insight and foreshadowing perhaps on what lies ahead in this course. I anticipate seeing how we apply logic in mathematical proofs. I remember taking a math class in high school in which the teacher asked us to do many proofs. It has been a long time since high school so my memory is a little hazy, but it seems that we used logically equivalent statements in the construction of proofs. I look forward to applying what we have read in these sections later in the course.
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