31Jul/07Off
Math Doesn’t Suck
Big thumbs-up to Danica McKellar, both for her book, Math Doesn’t Suck
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July 31st, 2007 - 11:45
It’s too bad this book wasn’t published in time for Paris to read it while she was in jail. Because then maybe she’d understand just how much losing that $60M of her grandfather’s money will impact her ability to be a coked-out whore in the future. :)
Go Winnie Cooper! Combined with Jason Hervey’s appearances on Scott Baio’s reality show and the release of the much-hyped (kidding) “Daddy Day Camp” next week, directed by none other than Fred Savage, it looks like the cast of the “The Wonder Years” might just be having the best week ever.
July 31st, 2007 - 13:48
I so still have a crush on Winnie Cooper!
July 31st, 2007 - 13:53
I’ve got to get this book for the Spawn!
July 31st, 2007 - 14:15
I still have a crush on math!
July 31st, 2007 - 14:25
Sadly, Ivon, so do I.
July 31st, 2007 - 14:39
I wish I had that book. Math was hard for me, and still is. I have a mental block. Maybe I should just get the book for myself now. Why not?
July 31st, 2007 - 14:47
Not so sad, GB. It’s easier to get hands-on experience with math than with Winnie Cooper.
July 31st, 2007 - 14:59
Haha, good point, Ivon.
Maggie, you should definitely get it. In this day and age, it certainly couldn’t hurt to have a better grasp on math.
July 31st, 2007 - 15:45
But why? I would say in this day and age, it’s a lot easier to get along in life with very little math skills, what with calculators and computers and what not.
I only say that because I suck at math–if there’s such a thing as math dyslexia, I’ve got it–but I have yet to come into a situation where algebra skills were necessary to get me out of it.
July 31st, 2007 - 15:57
This is why:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.....082806.htm
and this:
http://www.nncc.org/Curriculum.....girls.html
Math is more than algebra. It’s programming, it’s problem-solving, it’s science.
July 31st, 2007 - 16:26
I never thought I would need math for the same reasons, Rain. I certainly wasn’t interested in a career that required math! Especially now since my son is The Human Calculator (comes in totally handy, he does).
But now I’m a knitter. And I wish I had paid more attention in class not just so I know how to manipulate geometry for pattern design, but also because math builds logical and analytical skills, which would make working out designs so much easier. I’m a smart cookie and a quick study but for some reason with math, I have a big stupid block. I haven’t been able to get past it. I feel flummoxed and stupid and my head goes totally empty and I just smile vacantly until someone feels sorry for me and gives me the answer.
Maybe I just need a shrink.
July 31st, 2007 - 16:30
I wish I’d been better in math because then my college would have been free. Damn that dragged my SAT/ACT down.
July 31st, 2007 - 17:00
What Maggie said. Besides the application of math to knitting, baking, budgeting, web design, etc., just the ability to do something like solve a polynomial equation strengthens your logic/analysis muscles. Not much different than working out on a treadmill to improve your general fitness.
Calculators have been a tremendous boon when it comes to saving time for people who do extremely complex (scientists) or repetitive (accountants) math … but they’ve also made the general public overly-lazy about doing simple math. Going back to my previous metaphor, sometimes calculators are the equivalent of somebody using their car to drive 2 blocks, instead of just walking. Eventually, this takes its toll on your overall fitness.
Lecture over. :)
July 31st, 2007 - 17:18
I suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck at math, always did, always will. I hate that I can’t do advanced programming or even read a complicated knitting pattern.
STOOPID MATH.
July 31st, 2007 - 18:00
I really hate that my math suckitude held me back in science. And it’s weird, too, because I’m very good at abstractions generally, and have a natural talent for both theory and music, but geometry was the only math that ever made any sense to me. Algebra2 kicked my ass.
July 31st, 2007 - 21:41
Math has always been incredibly difficult for me, but in a weird quirk of fate, I count things unconsciously and see numbers as shades of gray.
Danica also co-authored a geometry proof or some sort of theorm (sp?). I love her.
August 1st, 2007 - 00:45
Rain, there is a math-dyslexia. It’s called dyscalculi in Dutch. English won’t be much different I guess. Which is not really math, but numbers and your basic adding/subtracting and stuff like that you don’t seem to be able to grasp.
August 1st, 2007 - 08:52
I like to do batting averages in my head while watching baseball. For fun, I increase the degree of difficulty by consuming beers.
August 1st, 2007 - 15:33
Marjon, I’m pretty sure I’ve got that. I really can’t visualize numbers in my head, so I still have to use fingers or write stuff down to add and subtract, and when I attempted Algebra and Geometry in school, the numbers just looked like a foreign language I could never learn.
I also think it has something to do with the reason I can’t draw. I just cannot translate what I see to pen and paper. It’s impossible for me…
August 1st, 2007 - 23:42
Rain, I’m right there with you. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that I must have some sort of learning disability, because math beyond the most basic is meaningless to me. I can memorize things with brute force, but I don’t grasp the logic or concepts.
This was especially tough, since my father is a math/science genius (free ride to UPenn as a civil engineer). He just couldn’t understand why I didn’t “get it,” and he couldn’t dumb down his explanations to my level. It’s gotten in my way in life, in that I did so shitty in Finance and Calculus during grad school (MBA) that I quit.
Now my kid’s showing signs of advanced mathematical and science capabilities. Apparently, it skipped a generation. I’m happy for her…although I dread the day that she comes home with homework and I don’t know enough to help her anymore. It’s coming soon.