An essay on everything. And Maths.
To clarify, I am not saying that everyone needs every part of Mathematics in their daily life. Many people function perfetcly well without even knowing what Topology is and that is ok. And I am absolutely not saying that everything your teachers tell you must be right, because that is simply not true. But...
1. Why Mathematics?
Why is it always Mathematics? Why is Maths the only subject that gets this treatment?
If I raised my hand in Geography class and said "What do I need this for? Why is it so important to know the capital of some country I'm never going to go to?" not only would the teacher have every right to berate me for "asking stupid questions"*, but the rest of the class would also think I'm stupid. Because not knowing your Geography is the height of stupidity, as any European ranting about stupid Americans will tell you.**
If I asked in History class why it is so important that the battle of Grunwald was fought on the 15th of July and not, for instance, the 28th of June, everyone would be shocked. Of course, I need to know this! How could I not know this? I need to know this because everyone (over the age of 15 in Poland who has paid attention in History class) knows this. Everyone needs to know this because everyone knows this because it is a thing which everyone knows!
And what about literature?! If I asked a teacher how having read this or that classic novel can be useful in the Real World, what would they tell me? Probably that it is not useful at all, thank you very much, and even if I somehow managed to find a practical use for it, it would be wrong to use it, because it is Great Literature and True Art and not supposed to be used. Ew.
But Mathematics must have a purpose. Mathematics needs an excuse to exist. God forbid that you learn a theorem that you do not need to use every day.
That is not to say schools should not teach anything that doesn't have a direct practical application. But why do we need all those other "useless" things? We need Maths for exactly the same reasons.
2. The Real World?
Seriously, what do you even mean by the Real World? It may seem obvious, but think about it. It isn't.
I might have mentioned before that I am a scientist or something like that. Most of the science I do is theoretical.*** Maths is definitely a part of my life, including some of the stuff discussed in that article. Do I not live in the Real World? If my job is not a part of the Real World, then why is anyone else's?
Also, the world we live in right now. The world of the 21st century, in which there are smartphones and the internet and robots on Mars, is, at least partially, created by us, humans. And, as more and more of our lives happens on the internet, can we even call it the Real World anymore? Of course, in the real Real World, the Natural World without modern civilisation calculus and logarithms are less useful than in the world we actually live in. So is History and literature. Basically, if you can't eat it you can live without it. But we don't live in that world any more.
Now think for a moment about this modern world we actually live in. What would happen to it if we all suddenly forgot Calculus? It would take some of us a while to notice the end of civilisation. But it would happen. You may not need to know how things work to use them, but you need someone who does to help you out when they break. And the people who say they will never need long division are the ones who would be the most helpless without their smartphones.
3. What do we need anything for?
Anything? Anything at all? Well, we need air to breathe and we need food to eat and... not much else, really. If something is not strictly necessary to keep you alive, you can, technically, live without it. It's possible to live without the internet. It's possible to live without eletricity. There are things in the world that can live without a brain or a heart. You'd be amazed what it is possible to live without! But you don't want to, do you?If you have the time to read my random musings, there's a good chance that a fairly large part of your life revolves around things you can, technically, live without. But in a way you do need them.
You live in the civilised world. You don't spend all your time hunting and gathering your food. So you need something to fill the remaining time. You need entertainment. You need the company of other people. You need something to talk about with other people. You might feel that you need to understand the world around you a little better, in which case you probably started hoping that article was satire or something**** somewhere around #4.
And about that hunting and gathering thing. You don't do a whole lot of that at all, do you? You do other things. Maybe you're a doctor. Maybe you're an artist. Maybe you work at a shop. Whatever. Whatever skills you use in your job, there's a good chance you can't really use them directly to feed yourself. Someone pays you to do whatever you do and then you can buy your food. So do you need that job? Well, you need the money.
And do you need that thing you did in Math class? Besides needing it to get good grades, which you need to get into university, which you need to get a degree, which you need to get a job you won't hate, which you need to earn money, which you need to buy the stuff you really need? Probably not. Who cares what the x in x^2-x-2=0 or 7x^2-5x+11 is? Pretty much no one. But you're not supposed to memorize the solutions, you're supposed to learn how to solve equations. Maybe you won't need that either, but maybe you will. You never know. Why do you need to know why this theorem is true? You don't. Even I don't and I'm a mathematician. But you need to know that your teacher didn't just pull it out of their ass. You need to know that things follow from other things. That they have reasons. That they can be understood.*****
And finally, even if you somehow manage to never use any kind of Math in your entire adult life, it's still a good idea to use your brain. The otherwise useless Math excercises you did at school help you learn that. Or at least they should. I might rant about why teachers suck at teahing some other time.
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* And the only answer needed would be that the question is stupid and therefore doesn't need to be answered.
** That European, by the way, is likely to have some difficulty naming all the states of the USA and their capitals, but who cares about those? And what kind of moron confuses Slovenia with Slovakia?
*** I am trying to grow some exotic plants and have some ideas for cool experiments with helium balloons, but that's just stuff I do in my spare time. Btw, does anyone know where I can get a bunch of helium balloons?
**** It might be. It is a comedy website. But sometimes it's hard to tell. And some of the comments certainly aren't. And argh. (Also, probably something)
***** Not necessarily by you. But there is someone out there who understands them and this is why you have a calculator and don't need long division, and can proudly tell people that you don't understand it.
I'm saying someone is either joking or missing the point.
1. Why Mathematics?
Why is it always Mathematics? Why is Maths the only subject that gets this treatment?
If I raised my hand in Geography class and said "What do I need this for? Why is it so important to know the capital of some country I'm never going to go to?" not only would the teacher have every right to berate me for "asking stupid questions"*, but the rest of the class would also think I'm stupid. Because not knowing your Geography is the height of stupidity, as any European ranting about stupid Americans will tell you.**
If I asked in History class why it is so important that the battle of Grunwald was fought on the 15th of July and not, for instance, the 28th of June, everyone would be shocked. Of course, I need to know this! How could I not know this? I need to know this because everyone (over the age of 15 in Poland who has paid attention in History class) knows this. Everyone needs to know this because everyone knows this because it is a thing which everyone knows!
And what about literature?! If I asked a teacher how having read this or that classic novel can be useful in the Real World, what would they tell me? Probably that it is not useful at all, thank you very much, and even if I somehow managed to find a practical use for it, it would be wrong to use it, because it is Great Literature and True Art and not supposed to be used. Ew.
But Mathematics must have a purpose. Mathematics needs an excuse to exist. God forbid that you learn a theorem that you do not need to use every day.
That is not to say schools should not teach anything that doesn't have a direct practical application. But why do we need all those other "useless" things? We need Maths for exactly the same reasons.
2. The Real World?
Seriously, what do you even mean by the Real World? It may seem obvious, but think about it. It isn't.
I might have mentioned before that I am a scientist or something like that. Most of the science I do is theoretical.*** Maths is definitely a part of my life, including some of the stuff discussed in that article. Do I not live in the Real World? If my job is not a part of the Real World, then why is anyone else's?
Also, the world we live in right now. The world of the 21st century, in which there are smartphones and the internet and robots on Mars, is, at least partially, created by us, humans. And, as more and more of our lives happens on the internet, can we even call it the Real World anymore? Of course, in the real Real World, the Natural World without modern civilisation calculus and logarithms are less useful than in the world we actually live in. So is History and literature. Basically, if you can't eat it you can live without it. But we don't live in that world any more.
Now think for a moment about this modern world we actually live in. What would happen to it if we all suddenly forgot Calculus? It would take some of us a while to notice the end of civilisation. But it would happen. You may not need to know how things work to use them, but you need someone who does to help you out when they break. And the people who say they will never need long division are the ones who would be the most helpless without their smartphones.
3. What do we need anything for?
Anything? Anything at all? Well, we need air to breathe and we need food to eat and... not much else, really. If something is not strictly necessary to keep you alive, you can, technically, live without it. It's possible to live without the internet. It's possible to live without eletricity. There are things in the world that can live without a brain or a heart. You'd be amazed what it is possible to live without! But you don't want to, do you?If you have the time to read my random musings, there's a good chance that a fairly large part of your life revolves around things you can, technically, live without. But in a way you do need them.
You live in the civilised world. You don't spend all your time hunting and gathering your food. So you need something to fill the remaining time. You need entertainment. You need the company of other people. You need something to talk about with other people. You might feel that you need to understand the world around you a little better, in which case you probably started hoping that article was satire or something**** somewhere around #4.
And about that hunting and gathering thing. You don't do a whole lot of that at all, do you? You do other things. Maybe you're a doctor. Maybe you're an artist. Maybe you work at a shop. Whatever. Whatever skills you use in your job, there's a good chance you can't really use them directly to feed yourself. Someone pays you to do whatever you do and then you can buy your food. So do you need that job? Well, you need the money.
And do you need that thing you did in Math class? Besides needing it to get good grades, which you need to get into university, which you need to get a degree, which you need to get a job you won't hate, which you need to earn money, which you need to buy the stuff you really need? Probably not. Who cares what the x in x^2-x-2=0 or 7x^2-5x+11 is? Pretty much no one. But you're not supposed to memorize the solutions, you're supposed to learn how to solve equations. Maybe you won't need that either, but maybe you will. You never know. Why do you need to know why this theorem is true? You don't. Even I don't and I'm a mathematician. But you need to know that your teacher didn't just pull it out of their ass. You need to know that things follow from other things. That they have reasons. That they can be understood.*****
And finally, even if you somehow manage to never use any kind of Math in your entire adult life, it's still a good idea to use your brain. The otherwise useless Math excercises you did at school help you learn that. Or at least they should. I might rant about why teachers suck at teahing some other time.
________________________________
* And the only answer needed would be that the question is stupid and therefore doesn't need to be answered.
** That European, by the way, is likely to have some difficulty naming all the states of the USA and their capitals, but who cares about those? And what kind of moron confuses Slovenia with Slovakia?
*** I am trying to grow some exotic plants and have some ideas for cool experiments with helium balloons, but that's just stuff I do in my spare time. Btw, does anyone know where I can get a bunch of helium balloons?
**** It might be. It is a comedy website. But sometimes it's hard to tell. And some of the comments certainly aren't. And argh. (Also, probably something)
***** Not necessarily by you. But there is someone out there who understands them and this is why you have a calculator and don't need long division, and can proudly tell people that you don't understand it.
I'm saying someone is either joking or missing the point.