The Woes of Mathematics

As a warning, I am tired and quite incapable of thinking clearly at the moment. This post is going to be a jumbled mess. I am going to regret posting this at such a late hour. I am going to wish I had never posted this when I am in such a state of mind. But it's Geeky Friday, and I must post something.

It may seem quite shocking that I would write a whole post all about the dreaded math.

On the other hand, it's quite shocking that I don't like it. After all, all life is biology*, all biology is physiology, all physiology is chemistry, all chemistry is physics, and all physics is math (or however the saying goes). And I'm all about learning how and why things work.

For while I didn't know why I disliked math, other than that I did. But I think I've finally pinned down my main objections to it.

Force. I was a nerd from the very start, and avidly pursued my studies beyond what was required. But all the other subjects were so interesting and exciting to me, math tended to get neglected. My mother, therefore, had to make me sit down and do my addition and subtraction.

That brought my enthusiasm to a screeching halt.

I have the unfortunate tendency to despise anything that I feel forced to do. This is, in fact, likely the primary reason I don't drive: I was forced behind the wheel a few years ago, and I think I'm about to be forced to get my permit. I have a natural response to resist pressure.

I suppose this makes me sound like a wayward, rebellious child, but I don't think this reaction is at its root necessarily a bad thing. This is the same reflex that causes me to resist societal influences.** It's just, perhaps, taken a bit too far here.

Still, coercion is an ineffective method of imparting knowledge. As Plato said, All learning which is acquired under compulsion has no hold upon the mind.

Method of problem solving. In most cases, I'd rather toil for hours until, by trial and error, I discover the solution on my very own, than read how to solve the problem their way step by step in boring detail. I skip over bits of the process, working it out in my head, and scribble out others. (This means when I am interrupted and look down at the paper again I have no idea what I was doing or how I got there.) I attempt to forge short cuts; many don't work, but some do.

This makes me wonder what people like Einstein or Stephen Hawking thought about their schooling. Not that I am anything like them, but I suspect I am better at math than standard teaching methods allow me to realize.

Of course, this is coming from someone who feels like a mathematical genius when she correctly adds two single-digit numbers on the first try. So then again, maybe not.

Lack of science. Math is fascinating as it applies to the world. But when all I'm doing is empty equations on the paper, and solving the problems brings about no scientific revelation, it feels like my time should be better spent. Math that does nothing is boring. It is intangible and pointless and dull and if ever I could find a program that taught it as it applies practically, to science, to something, oh, I would be so happy!

Lack of milkshakes. As I was pondering all this, I suddenly remembered a long-forgotten part of my life, a time in which math was a happy event. My father used to write two very large numbers (at least, they seemed impossibly long sums at the time) and ask me to add them. When I did several of these, he made me a milkshake. I had so much fun doing that. I don't remember why that stopped.


Can't someone out there write a curriculum that teaches math in a sensible way and that puts knowledge gained to use?

Anyway, what got me thinking about all of this was The Official SAT Question of the Day, which I suppose was the ultimate purpose of this post. So there you go. Have fun. Be nerdy. I really should go to bed.

*The very best subject ever.
**Besides, of course, the conscious realization that society has issues.

A Prompt for Your Next Sci-Fi Novel

Why is it that each Friday I am too tired to write a coherent post?

Basically, what I want to say is--
a) there is a planet made of diamond;
b) there is a PLANET made of DIAMOND;
c) said planet is 4,000 light years away;
d) it has slighly more mass than Jupiter but is twenty times as dense;
e) it orbits a pulsar star that is 12.4 miles in diameter;
f) if we lived on this planet, we would be very old. Its year is two hours and ten minutes long.
--just in a really brilliant, profound way. But oh well. You may read more about the diamond planet if you wish.

It's like something out of a sci-fi, isn't it? People trying to get to a diamond planet and mine it or something?

It's amazing all the gems stowed away in the universe.

Of Puppies and Geeks





This is the puppy my dad found on the side of the road.

Isn't that sheer adorableness?

He saw the vet today, and she said she didn't see any signs of trauma, and he tested negative for parvo*.

Still, something isn't right with him. He's lethargic to the extreme and just lies there. That isn't normal for a puppy in a strange place surrounded by strange people--or any dog, save maybe a senile, geriatric one.

Outside he perks up, though he still isn't as lively as it seems a puppy should be. Hopefully we'll get a call from his owners soon, if he has any.

Also, I hereby declare every Friday shall be Geeky Friday**. (Because, after all, we nerds having nothing better to do with ourselves on Friday nights than be nerdy!) I've wanted to declare it for several weeks now, but each Friday I'm too tired to write a post nerdy enough. And I'm still too tired, so I'm going to leave you with Fibonacci.

*Canine parvovirus type 2. According to Wikipedia the Omniscient, "It has two distinct presentations, a cardiac and intestinal form. The common signs of the intestinal form are severe vomiting and dysentery. The cardiac form causes respiratory or cardiovascular failure in young puppies."

**I was going to go with Nerdy Friday, but Geeky Friday is like a play on Freaky Friday... which was a movie I saw years and years ago and have almost no memory of... but I might end up changing it to Nerdy Friday... Your thoughts?