Why do people hate mathematics?

[Dodecahedron314]

I think my feelings toward math can best be described by a conversation I had with one of my friends last semester:

Me: Well, the weird thing is, for the longest time, up through precalc, I really didn't care that much for math. I mean, I was good at it and all, but I didn't actually find it interesting. I was on speaking terms with math, but that was it. Then last year when I got to calculus, and I saw how applicable it is to everything and how nicely everything works out, I was just kind of like "OMG, math!!!"

Friend: So now it's like you're in a stable long-term relationship with math?

Me: Sure, that's a pretty good analogy.

Friend: OK, so you're dating math, cool.

On the plus side, now I can use this as an excuse if somebody ever tries to ask me out (doubtful that this will ever be a problem, but still) instead of explaining about being aro. :)

Anyway, on the question of why people don't like math, I can certainly see why some people wouldn't if they never took any math past high school level algebra 2/precalc. It just doesn't seem all that applicable, no matter how many word problems they throw at you. But when you get to higher math like calculus and start seeing how it all fits into the universe and how reality works, it's just so much YES. I also think that different people have different kinds of math that they will find interesting--I'm definitely a calculus person, mainly differential equations, but geometry bored me to tears. Meanwhile, my mom loves geometry (she's an artist, that might have something to do with it), but can't stand any other math. It's probably got something to do with what kind of person you are, how you think, that sort of thing, but all I am saying, is give peace math a chance. (One last thing: skill in lower levels of math doesn't necessarily have any correlation with skills at higher levels--one of the most frequent comments my calculus teacher wrote on people's tests last year was "good calculus, BAD algebra", I scored lower on my math SATs and ACTs than I expected because it had been so long since I'd done "normal math", and there's a long-running stereotype of mathematicians not being able to do arithmetic.

[Ankh117]

I don't hate math per say, but I think my main problem is that I don't grasp it as well as other people do and it doesn't help the teacher explains the problem too fast or doesn't offer an alternate explanation on how to get the answer. Going through school my teachers would just repeat the same method to solving the problem over and over again but I could never remember it.

I am also a bit socially anxious, so asking for asking for help or raising my hand to ask the teacher to repeat her/himself was like opening myself up to people to make fun of me. (I wasn't well liked in middle school)

[CharmVif3075]

I used to be good at maths but then at some point during middle school/high school, I completely lost it. I guess it just became too hard for me, and I didn't see the practical use of what we studied and I need that to be interested in something. So, I don't hate maths, I actually like numbers, I just don't like the way it's taught I guess.

[Purnkin Spurce]

I personally hate it because I struggle with it for much. I have dyscalculia so that might explain it better. Basically I have a mathmatical learning disability and makes even basic math, a daily struggle.

[EquationWorthSolving]

I personally like maths. As a person who likes things to go in a logical order as much as possible, it can be a reprieve from the chaos of the world, despite how much I try to enjoy the chaos cause there isn't really any other alternative. I also love that it is possible to see the maths that has been used throughout your life - things like trigonometry and basic maths. I guess I love the black and white thing it has - that there are millions of different ways to do the question, but in the end there is only one right answer, no matter how you got to it.

I probably wouldn't actually like it so much if I hadn't decided on my own to look at some higher maths - beyond what is taught at school. For a project at school I chose to look at mathematical paradoxes and that was probably the point at which I decided that maths really was interesting. I enjoy the feeling of being able to grasp an abstract concept and see it unfold in front of you.

As for why people hate maths, I asked my friends this question a while ago and they all said something along the lines of 'I never understand it' or 'I can't see how I'm ever going to use this in real life'. I reckon that the education system just failed to show people the right sorts of maths in primary and high school, and so maths is now seen as some dull, grey, one-way only road to nowhere. (Also, it is so hard to concentrate on maths in class - the classes always get so stuffy and uncomfortable and hot that it's impossible to focus on doing the actual maths unless it's something really basic that you understood way before you even got to class.)