> or proofs that were so hard that we would form groups after class just to copy whoever could divine the solutions.
These groups were some of the most valuable parts of the university experience for me. We'd get take-out, invade some conference room, and slam our heads against these questions well into the night. By the end of it, sure... our answers looked superficially similar, but it was because we had built a mutual, deep understanding of the answer—not just copying the answers.
Even if you had only a rough understanding, the act of trying to teach it again to others in the group made you both understand it better.
I'm glad your groups were great, but this class was horrible and probably different from what you're thinking of. We weren't physics majors. We were trying to credentialize in a textbook, not come up with proofs to solve open ended riddles that most people couldn't solve. The homework should drill in the information of the class and ensure you learn the material.
And we literally couldn't figure it out. Or the group you were in didn't have a physics rockstar. Or you weren't so social or didn't know anyone or you just missed an opportunity to find out where anyone was forming a group. It's not like the groups were created by the class. I'd find myself in a group of a few people and we just couldn't solve it even though we knew the lecture material.
It was a negative value class that cost 10x the price of the community college course yet required you to teach yourself after a lecture that didn't help you do the homework. A total rip-off.
Anyways, AI is a value producer here instead of giving up and getting a zero on the homework.