Guest Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Article @ AnimeMurphyPaul Snapshot @ Scientific American Food for thought. :) Why do you think people hate mathematics? Why do you like it (or why don't you)? Link to post Share on other sites
Misplaced Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I hate it because i can't do it. :) Not ashamed to admit i can't either. (No idea whats on the links, i can't click at this time. :() Link to post Share on other sites
Vyanni Krace Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I love maths when I understand it. For example I loved learning about simple algebra because it was like a puzzle. Anything mathematical that is like a puzzle to me, and that I understand and can solve I enjoy. Most of the time though I hate maths. Too many numbers. I prefer creativity to counting numbers using irrelevant, obscure equations all day. Also, it makes my brain suffer. Me during complicated maths: MY BRAIN! IT BUUUUUUURRNNNNZZZZZ!!!!!!!!! T_T I am intelligent. But when it comes to maths I really have no idea how I keep getting placed in top set. Too much expectation for my mathematically-dumb brain! >_< Link to post Share on other sites
ObsessedWithCats Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I like maths 'cause I find it easy and it's sensible. None of this feelings nonsense :P But I like broccoli too if it's not overcooked, so I'd rather eat broccoli than do maths. I had a terrible maths teacher for four years of secondary school ( I don't think he's allowed to teach past the first three years any more), and I think if my Dad hadn't been mathematically inclined enough to teach me I'd have given up on it. I'm glad I was able to stick with it, 'cause I've found it very useful since. Link to post Share on other sites
krislox Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I hate it because it's not just one step. It starts with factoring, then using some formula, then PEMDAS stuff, then more factoring, more distributing, then you use another equation and you finally get an answer. Please don't make me show my work, or double check it. I can only handle so much. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I think a lot of it has to do with the quality of the teaching, at least for me. Some of the worst teachers and professors I've ever had have been math teachers. I've also had some very good math teachers. The difference in my marks between the classes with good teachers and bad teachers is usually 20-40%. Link to post Share on other sites
Zerο Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I find math boring, but useful. I'll learn what I need to just to have the skills, but it's not something I'd do in my free time. Link to post Share on other sites
Denidee Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I don't know what it is really. I suck with maths, I always have and I always will. Everyone always jokes that the mathematical part of my brain is missing - which I think is true. My brain barely functions when it sees numbers, it tends to shut down and freak out unless there is a calculator nearby, I'm alright with the very basics, adding, subtracting etc., but even then I can't always get the numbers right (much to the amusement and exasperation of anyone that knows me). Maybe it was to do with a lack of good maths teachers in school who couldn't find the time to explain it, or maybe I just suck. My disclaimer: 'I'm a writer, I need words not numbers' (until I actually go about getting something published...then we might hit a few bumps in the road) but until then I'll survive. Link to post Share on other sites
The Great WTF Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 My dislike of mathematics is twofold. I never had a decent math teacher. Never. I am good at math by the sheer good luck of having a mother who is a Chemistry major and had the time to sit down and actually teach me as opposed to whatever the heck my teachers in school did. She still sucked as a teacher, but at least I managed to learn enough from her to be able to get through my own Physics and Chemistry classes alive. Around the time I started failing tests even though I had all the right answers (yay for having to show your work and show it THEIR way), I just started to hate it on principal. Beyond that, I hate things that are formulaic and uniform. Mathematics, at least until you get really deep into it, has only one answer and I find that boring. Day to day stuff like making change, averaging, being able to measure out fabric or angles for Steampunk projects or ingredients for dinner, yeah, I'm happy to have and it's useful, but doing math for the sake of math? No thanks. It's too dull for me. I'd rather have the opinions and unpredictability of the fine arts. Link to post Share on other sites
ObsessedWithCats Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Please don't make me show my work Same, if not necessarily for the same reasons. I get asked, 'Where's your working?' I think 'That is my working.' Because my working is the information I needed to write down to remember, not step by step instructions of how I did it. If I got the right answer I must have done it mostly right. Link to post Share on other sites
TheAspieBaker Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Math is very overwhelming. And none of it ever seems to stick in my brain. I can learn to unravel an equation and maybe get the question right, but after the fifth or sixth time, the numbers start to make less sense, and I'm skipping steps in the problem, and mixing up equations. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I hate it because it's confusing to me. I have had tutors, teachers and professors and none of them could make my brain make sense of the rules. I remember my tutor was impressed with my skills and then as we progressed and things got harder, he'd ask me "Well, you got these three right and those four wrong, can you tell why? Do you have any questions about it?" and I would be like... as far as I know I did them all the same, so no clue whatsoever and without having a clue, no I have no questions. :lol: And the thing I hate MOST about it is: No two people teach math the same way. I took two different algebra classes in college and between the two, the methods were so different it was like relearning the material all over again instead of just advancing in material already learned. It's frustrating. Not to mention, the math you can do in your head isn't good enough for a teacher, you have to show your work so you have to write out things you don't even need to write out... Link to post Share on other sites
iff Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 i liked maths though i probably underachieved in it. Link to post Share on other sites
tommy92 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Why do they have to decide between broccoli and math. I like math but I also like broccoli (I always liked broccoli^^). It is also a good question: Why does everyone think that kids hate broccoli? :lol: I'm not sure why others hate it maybe because it forces them to think? I don't really know, everybody will probably have his own reasons. I love math. It's logical, I don't really know what else I can say about it^^ You could say that math makes the world go round. What would be do without it. I like to learn new math-thingies. Like I recently taught myself some basic matrix calculation. But for me it's always fun learning new things :D Link to post Share on other sites
IceHurricane Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Lots of people have trouble understanding mathematics or just have trouble with numbers in general. (Including me) I actually like math though. I'm not very good at it but I enjoy it nonetheless :D Link to post Share on other sites
JDP Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I'm good at it but I don't like it. Sure, it expresses ultimate truth but it doesn't pay my rent. :P Link to post Share on other sites
Lia Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Because it's EVIL! Link to post Share on other sites
ratonhnhaké:ton Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I don't like it because one problem can take so much work to solve. Also, if you make one small mistake anywhere, it will screw up your answer. Link to post Share on other sites
JDP Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 There is, however, just one right answer, which makes mathematics beautiful. Link to post Share on other sites
MenthaPiperita Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 As someone who struggled with algebra in school, and wasn't able to complete an "honors" program or participate in certain extracurricular activities because I often failed algebra, I had to weigh in on this! I don't hate math in general. In fact, I'm fine with basic math and realize I use it every day. It's the more complex math - like advanced algebra, trigonometry, etc. - that I hate. Factoring binomials and trinomials. All I can say to that is: WTF? To really learn and enjoy something, it must be meaningful for me. And the way algebra and other advanced maths are taught in most schools in the US, they don't demonstrate any meaning. It's just a bunch of numbers and letters and other symbols thrown together for no clear purpose whatsoever. Also, people who like math say it's "logical". Well, I find nothing logical about this type of math. Yes, there are certain steps required for solving the equations, but those steps make no sense to me. Again, what's the point of all this anyway? If someone could explain that to me - in plain English - then I might not hate it so much. Link to post Share on other sites
EricK Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Beyond that, I hate things that are formulaic and uniform. Mathematics, at least until you get really deep into it, has only one answer and I find that boring. Day to day stuff like making change, averaging, being able to measure out fabric or angles for Steampunk projects or ingredients for dinner, yeah, I'm happy to have and it's useful, but doing math for the sake of math? No thanks. It's too dull for me. I'd rather have the opinions and unpredictability of the fine arts. There is a story about David Hilbert, one of the most influential mathematicians of the early 20th century. Apparently, when he was told that one of his students was giving up mathematics to study poetry, he said "Good, he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician." Link to post Share on other sites
praetorius Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I love mathematics at the higher level. Mathematics as taught in elementary school through lower-level college courses is basically a completely different thing from "mathematics" that a mathematician plays with. Unfortunately, most people only experience the elementary arithmetic/calculation form of mathematics, where there are fixed procedures that you can memorize and mechanically apply to grind through from question to answer. At higher levels, though, mathematics becomes conceptual and intuitive, within a rigorous framework --- there is no fixed, algorithmic procedure for constructing mathematical proofs; you need to follow imaginative leaps of intuition to see if they pan out. I think it would be fun, and get more kids interested in math, if more proof-based, imaginative exploration of outcomes was incorporated into elementary math education, instead of making everything seem like a rote chore of memorizing and grinding through fixed calculating algorithms. Link to post Share on other sites
5_♦♣ Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I like math as long as it directly relates to time. Eg, 112 days in 16 weeks. Aside from that, I don't really like math. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 To all of those who answered they hate or dislike mathematics: do you think the reason why you dislike it is the same as most other people's? (Ignore if you have already answered this) My personal opinion is that most people hate mathematics because it's abstract. Truth is, there are lots of ways one can solve a mathematical problem, but they're all - of course - intrinsically mathematical. And most of the time, you can't see what you're doing. You can't picture it in your head. It's just a raw array of numbers and formulas that are actually backed up with tons of theoretical demonstrations that link to more abstract mathematical concepts. This is also why students generally find geometry more bearable than algebra. Yet, it's the main reason why I love it. It's so beautifully pure, completely bared of every possible application. Mathematics is conceptual, deep, the essence of abstraction. There are no middle grounds: an answer is either right or wrong. A procedure either leads to the solution or it doesn't. That's what I like about it. That's what I LOVE, actually, about mathematics. It's something that most people seem to dislike heartily. For the record, I wish the determinism there is in mathematics applied to humans as well. Would make my life so much easier :P Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I don't like it because one problem can take so much work to solve. Also, if you make one small mistake anywhere, it will screw up your answer. There is nothing more frustrating than doing a huge math problem and then having to backtrack for an hour looking for the one little mistake you made along the way. Link to post Share on other sites
Touchofinsight Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I think people "hate" mathematics in the context of being forced to learn math that is in their view point useless. For me advanced algebra and advanced geometry are useless. I haven't used any of the concepts I had learned at one time from either of those fields mentioned above. Standardized education (one size fits all) has really turned many people away from the realm of math. Most math people use in their day to day lives, isn't what they hate. Its complex jargon messes that you were forced to do pages of with no real life application provided. Oh cool the quadratic formula, great if your an engineer or someone who needs to build something or solving an aerodynamic issue but for most of us.. that doesn't apply but you still have to learn it. You still have to take multiple repetitive boring steps to solve pages of these equations and one's like them... because you might.... remember... and apply it to a situation where you might... have all the correct information to do so. Maybe.... yeaa.... My point is most advanced math is something you should learn once you set your self into a career field that requires it, not be forced to be taught it on a just in case basis. Chances are if you do end up in those fields and were forced to learn it, so much time will have passed that you'll have forgotten and have to relearn it later because you dumped all that crap out of your brain and it never became relevant again like so much other garbage you learn in your primary education. Think of how many classes you went into, learned the content and went oh thank god I don't have to remember any of that anymore.. finished my final WOOT WOOT! Only people passionate about what they are learning are going to retain it... PERIOD Link to post Share on other sites
Pentachromacy Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Mathematics should be taught for what it is... a language. Here and in many places around the world at least, that is not the case. Throughout the many levels of education... it's taught something like.... (memorize this formula "and only use this formula" to get a desired result) The bane of standardized testing has turned away so many potential minds from mathematics...it's disgusting. This is especially true in impoverished areas, where all a school will care about is what percentage of its children will pass the standardized state tests at the end of a given period. This often determines how much money they will receive for budgets the following year "along with attendance" at the federal level. Our entire system here in the west especially, dare I say, is geared towards making people despise education as a whole. A teacher cannot teach and a child cannot learn. Students are shoveled like a product. Nothing more. No regard for the complexity of the human brain and the many ways it can learn and more importantly, the many ways it can navigate a problem. These are just problems in the west... In the east you see an entirely different level of...scary mind manufacturing. Cram schools... I should probably stop there.... It gets way too depressing for me to continue on the subject of education... I love mathematics, unabashedly. There is practically no segment of our lives it doesn't permeate or influence. For example the world would be a very different "and maybe even better" place, if a significant portion of the population understood the concept and ramifications of exponents. That being said it's not hard to see why so many people hate mathematics "or perhaps they really just hate the educational systems that are forced upon them." The way it's taught doesn't exactly win over the hearts and minds of the next generation. Link to post Share on other sites
Philip027 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I used to love math. It was my favorite subject. It was actually handy to know, and I could see its real-life applications. But by high school time, the math started reaching really abstract areas, and I started to see less and less of a point to learning it if you didn't plan to become an engineer or something. By the time trigonometry hit, I was basically like "...fuck this! *tableflip*" It was one of the primary factors that led to my junior-year meltdown and my eventual dropping out from HS, in fact. (Chances are I've already talked about this with the OP before, oh well XD) Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 To all of those who answered they hate or dislike mathematics: do you think the reason why you dislike it is the same as most other people's? (Ignore if you have already answered this) My personal opinion is that most people hate mathematics because it's abstract. Truth is, there are lots of ways one can solve a mathematical problem... But, at least in the way I was taught, there ISN'T another way to solve it. It HAS to be done the way the TEACHER wants you to solve it, or you get it "wrong". Even if you have the answer at the end correct. And yeah I agree with Touch - I am never, ever going to use a quadratic formula in my line of work. I am not going to use calc, or trig. Basic math I retained cause I use it nearly every day, but all the advanced stuff they make me learn just because they say I need it (when I never use it and so forget it quickly), I just don't see the point to. It isn't a subject that interests me, it is just an annoying road block that makes me frustrated. Especially since, when there are multiple ways to solve a problem, you get taught one way by one teacher and another teacher expects you to do it their way and if you do it the way you were taught, you are graded badly. Link to post Share on other sites
The Great WTF Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Beyond that, I hate things that are formulaic and uniform. Mathematics, at least until you get really deep into it, has only one answer and I find that boring. Day to day stuff like making change, averaging, being able to measure out fabric or angles for Steampunk projects or ingredients for dinner, yeah, I'm happy to have and it's useful, but doing math for the sake of math? No thanks. It's too dull for me. I'd rather have the opinions and unpredictability of the fine arts. There is a story about David Hilbert, one of the most influential mathematicians of the early 20th century. Apparently, when he was told that one of his students was giving up mathematics to study poetry, he said "Good, he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician." Y'know, I really despise that kind inter-study passive-aggressive behavior. I'm surrounded it on a daily basis at my college, people sneering at each other's majors and belittling them, implying that someone is lacking for studying something that they dislike or for whatever reason think is inferior. Yes, math is dull to me, horribly, painfully, dull, and it does not excite me or inspire creativity in me. The written word does. For other people, chemistry does. Or dance. Or sports. Why is it necessary to make such comments about other people's passions and choices? I'm no saint. In fact, I'm the queen of passive-aggressive snark, but that kind of comment just drives me up the wall. Link to post Share on other sites
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