Why do people think it is perfectly acceptable to say that

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It's funny, I got most of mathematics decently.

Better with visual stuff, like some of algebra and all of Geometry.


I can't divide too well for some reason... I don't get it, but I don't worry about it too much. Math isn't my calling anyway... I'd rather write.

Yes I like those a lot too.

Back in elementary school(or primary, depending), did division make you want to stab yourself in the face with a soldering iron?

People have been exposed to bad examples of math, I used to hate it, now, that I see I need it, and get to see what it can do, I start to like it. I can give a lot of beauty too.
People hate what they dont understand. I git this with chemistry and any science.

Ok, I have expressed myself badly here. It is more when people say that it is boring than when they hate it that I get annoyed although I do get annoyed when people say they hate it but they really don't know anything about it and are just going off a preconceived notion and are following the flock of sheep in saying that they hate math and it is boring just because that has become they accepted answer. If someone has genuinely looked into math at more than a superficial level and doesn't like it or find it interesting then I would rather they said 'It just doesn't interest me' but when they are calling something boring with no knowledge of it - to me that just sounds ignorant...I mean I would rather they thought for themselves and formed their own opinion.

Also, a lot of people base their opinions on subjects based solely on what they learned in school. I admit I found maths boring in high school, but I found most things boring in school because I didn't want to be there. I wouldn't say I find maths itself boring though because I haven't looked into it properly on its own, so the only experience I really have of it is from high school. It's the same with history... I blame the curriculum, not the subject

I refuse to believe this. I mean, mathematics is a huge area and granted there will be things you don't understand but it doesn't mean that you couldn't eventually develop an understanding of things if you really wanted to. The whole thing about learning math is that you start off not understanding things and slowly develop a deeper and deeper understanding over time. I think the further you get as well, you realise that you understand less and less but in a way that is what exciting; when stuff that seemed totally inpenetrable suddenly becomes clearer and is assimilated into a broader conceptual understanding that you have of something else and you start to pick out unifying themes. At least you didn't say it was boring!

In some ways, more advanced math actually gets easier as you go along as high school math is really just focused on numeracy and calculations without any real mathematical motivation whereas when you get to undergraduate level; it becomes more about building up conceptual areas of the subject and it is only then that you start to realise what mathematics actually is about.

No, I just zoned out and I always sat at the back of the class so the teacher didn't notice me.

This is my point though; why should it be an accepted response? When did it become the social norm to bash things that you don't know about and why?

You are a perfect example of what I am refering to. You say you hate math but then your subsequent comments immediately inform me that you obviously don't have any experience in it.

Too structured, ordered and rigid. Not true, of course course and school curriculum are structured and rigid but that applies to any other subject. In a historical context many areas of math have grown in a very organic fashion. When one is learning mathematics, there are many different texts you can go to which offer completely different expositions/orders/points of view etc. Just like any other subject.

only one answer is acceptable Maybe in meaningless high school calculations but not in mathematics itself. That is the equivalent of saying that when writing an essay, there is only one possible answer as one may only spell the words in one way. When you get to higher level math you will find that there are often multiple approachs to answering certain types of question. You will also find out that math isn't just about answering calculatory questions and that you will be asked to prove various assertations as opposed to questions like 'Calculate this integral' etc. etc.

No room for creativity or exploration But this is what mathematics is all about! This is how new mathematics is disocvered! Even whilst studying known mathematics you need a certain amount of creativity and exploratory nature to understand material in a deeper and less superficial way.

just a sequence of monotonous steps Maybe this is true in high school 'math' where you learn set algorithms for calculations like long division and calculating integrals and derivatives etc. etc. but even then with a little thought you could make the effort to try and understand why and what was really going on below the surface. Once you get further on you will find that there is no longer algorithmic methods for every type of calculation and that indeed calculation becomes a much smaller and smaller element of math and the type of questions you are trying to answer have no systematic approach available in solving them and that one must just use ingenuity and creativity. In terms of new maths; it is often the case that whole new techniques or areas of math must be invented to solve problems. As an example, anyone who has done any linear algebra will know that there are millions of different techniques and algorithms for calculating determinants but once you get to that stage of study; these become unimportant in themselves and you become more interested in the properties and what they actually mean rather than just how to plod on through meaningless calculations.

Last edited by JakeG on 10 Apr 2007, 7:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not very good at maths, but I love the logic and principals of equasions.

I have to disagree that mathematics is rigid, if anyone wanted to read a little about the history of mathematics, they would find a lot of development in the subject and certainly much exploration and experimentation, not rigid at all.

But even people who enjoy math don't always enjoy learning algorithmic processes in a superficial and rigid fashion with no attempt at understanding the process. Long division, basic calculus etc. is to math as learning to spell words is to English Literature.

I mean, wouldn't you think someone sounded ignorant if they said that they hated Shakespeare even though they hadn't read any just because they hated learning spelling lists in school?

Last edited by JakeG on 10 Apr 2007, 7:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Precisely, people need to accept that there is more to life than what goes on in school.

I mean, in music class at school we played the triangle and had to do hand clapping excercises and the furthest we got musically was to play things like twinkle, twinkle little star on a keyboard ad nauseum...it doens't mean that people go on to say they hate music and find it boring....they just go out there and develop an interest for themselves.

I think the people that say that hate maths or that maths are boring just don't understand it ... they're probably jealous that you're so good at it.

In Australia, we have a radio/television celebrity called Adam Spencer who has a maths degree.

He originally got his job on the radio when the radio station was broadcasting from a university for the day. The randomly picked Adam Spencer from the crowd to read the weather. While reading the weather he made interesting comments about the numbers eg Sydney, fine and 27 or 3 cubed.

He was the morning presenter for a few years on our national youth broadcasting radio station JJJ. He was absolutely hilarous and revelled in being a 'geek'. His favourite thing was to get students to call in with science/maths questions when they were cramming for exams. He would give outrageous answers that sounded reasonable because of all the jargon he'd throw in.

Another personality we have is Dr Karl Kruslenitzky. He is a trained medical doctor but has gone on to do further studies in science. He has regular spots on radio where people call inwith all their science questions that he answers, or researches the answer. Again, he is a self proclaimed geek and people love him!

Dr Karly Kruslenitzky (can't remember how to spell it) and Adam Spencer went on a national tour called 'sleek geek week tour' where they promoted maths and science.

Unfortunately Adam Spencer left radio and the guys that took over and nowhere near as good.

These guys are good things in Australian culture ... but unfortunately there's still a lot of the 'cool to be a fool' mentality.

Here is a theoretical conversation with people who say maths is boring,

"What did you do this weekend?"
"I got so drunk"
"Cool"
"I vomited everywhere"
"Awesome"

"What did you do this weekend?"
"Reviewed my maths lectures from last week"
"How boring!"

So ... who is the boring one?

Smelena

This is another great example.

In school, we go through basic types of equations (mainly linear, quadratic and some simple differential ones) and are taught algorithms to solve them. If you go into it a bit deeper and look at the theory behind it you are soon confronted with very attractive material. Instead of just making calculations you start looking at the conditions for solvability in general of equations and if you do Galois Theory you learn that certain types of equations have very deep symmetries that allow us a method to solve them and you will learn to actually show that certain equations are not solvable in a certain sense but more to the point, why this is. Once you get to this level things become a lot more exciting.