5 Reasons Not to Hate Mathematics

Most students arguably hate Mathematics the most among all of their technical subjects. The hate typically takes roots when students are young, and goes well into their adulthood. This article tries to argue in favour of mathematics, and tries to explain the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the hate. It goes on to explain that the unfair hate limits the potential of people who end up hating the subject.

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Everyone uses mathematical thinking without realising it

Mathematics is just a formalised way of extending human logic in a communicable manner with other human beings. Every one of us has subtle calculations going on in our heads when we are making our daily decisions. Now, they are not precise calculations, but are nonetheless rooted in the mathematical ways. To be more precise, mathematics takes its root from this nature of human beings. When we spread butter on our breads, or make a decision about trying to hurry to catch a train or bus as we leave home, mathematics is in play.

Don’t Hate Mathematics – You are probably missing alphabets in the language

Continuing from the notion that mathematics is human logic extended in a communicable manner, one could argue that it is just another language; the language of logic to be more precise. Now if you imagine that you have never known the alphabets ‘a’ and ‘x’ in the English language, you would struggle to make sense of any large text. You would try to guess the meanings of words that involve these alphabets, and your pattern matching skills would lead to superstitious beliefs as to what the intended meaning of the entire text is. This is essentially what happens with mathematics. Math is an additive subject. Higher concepts are built additively upon lower concepts. Students lose their path typically when understanding a fundamental concept (analog: alphabet). The school curriculum typically requires students to hurry on. And students proceed with guesswork further on, until the error accumulated is so large that they are not good at math anymore. No one likes anything they are not good at.

You are probably also missing grammar, and it’s probably not your fault

In any technical field, the technicians try to protect their territory by developing technical jargon that aims to confuse the common man for no other apparent reason. This is quite clear to see in fields such as medicine, tax, finance, accounting, etc. Mathematicians are no different. Sometimes the rules and terminology that have been developed are complex for no apparent reason other than to show-off the proverbial might of the mathematician who invented it. Therefore, normal people often find such rules abstruse. They cannot be blamed. However, if one has a strong understanding of the fundamental concepts, this is easily dealt with, as one can develop one’s own convenient grammatical structures. In short, strong fundamentals overcome this disadvantage.

Don’t Hate Mathematics – Bad teachers complicate the issue

As with many fields in the current day and age, some of the most unsuccessful mathematical brains try to find refuge in the field of teaching. Unfortunately, what this means is that the students have to learn from some of the most incompetent mathematical brains. Bad teachers create a bad relationship between the students and the subject, and the it turns into a downward spiral. However, it is the students who lose out on their potential. One of the ways to counter this is to offer attractive wages for mathematics teachers. In addition, if the students are shown the rear world advantages of using mathematics efficiently at an early age (not teach abstract concepts without their purpose), they are more likely to take more affinity to the subject.

Math enables you to be a provider and not a consumer

Since mathematics finds applications in literally every field, people who are able to combine mathematics with other fields have significant advantage when it comes to contributing to the technological developments of our society. What this means is that they tend to understand technology more than a person who doesn’t have a strong mathematical background. This leads to the cascading effect that the math-affine tend to provide more to the less math-affine. As a result, there is a flow of money from the people who do not possess the ability to those who do. This leads to a hierarchical difference. This leads to more hate for the subject. Again, the roots to addressing such issues lie in solving the points mentioned previously.

Conclusion

Math is not as bad as you think it is. You use math without realising it. If you put in a little effort at a time, you could learn the formal way of communicating in this language. It is likely to make you a more competent person in your field, regardless of your background. Your age is not a limiting factor. Don’t let bad experiences from your childhood or incompetent teachers from the past hold back your progress now. With the advancement of technology, anyone can teach oneself mathematics these days, and get very competent in it rather swiftly.

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