Wow you sound like an elitist asshole here. Why the do hard science majors always say shit like this? I’ve never heard a history major shit talk math majors for no reason. Usually they just say “I don’t like math” or “I think it’s boring”, but the other side is always like “man my major is so hard and complex and technical and you have to be super duper smart to be in it, those guys in liberal arts are idiots!” Grow up, I’ve met plenty of extremely smart people in art and history.
And you wonder why the stereotype persists that hard science and engineering majors have shit-tier personalities.
The people who are bad at Algebra are the ones that didn’t have basic math stressed as important early on. I can say this because thats how it is with me. Not a single teacher made a big deal with me about math. So, I as a child never thought much of math. Though they did make a big deal out of reading, spelling, and basic English. Where as on the other hand, to this day I still don’t know my multiplication tables, and can’t divide jack shit without a calculator in hand with the exception of real simple stuff. It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that I realized how useful semi-basic math skills would be to me and just how uneducated I was in the subject. So here I am. Signing up for my second try at Algebra fucking 2 in the middle of this post for next year because math doesn’t make any sense to me.
Um, isn’t it obvious? Someone with strong abilities in Mathematics has the option to go into the myriad of fields which require such skills, and for there to be actual competition in those fields. There’s minimal competition in those fields because few people are qualified which doesn’t bode well for the future. Even if they chose not to they’ll still have the mental acumen that’s afforded to them by being good in math. What’s the endgame for a group of people who are trained in Philosophy or and debate?
The bolded suggests that you really don’t get it. Being able to detect logical fallacies comes with the territory when learning mathematics. Those “rules that apply to numbers” are cemented in logic. Proper understanding of mathematics is avoiding logical fallacy. It’s not some quasi-arbitrary construct like psychology where there’s a certain baseline but the rules can deviate a bit from person to person. It’s not a coincidence that historically math and philosophy has gone hand in hand (Decartes, Leibniz, Aristotle [who ended up being wrong in some areas but that’s beside the point]) As an example the entire discipline of Geometry is based off of logical deductions which stem from five postulates. Everything to do with anything in Euclidean Geometry can be traced back to those 5 rules.
Maybe he didn’t say that, but a LOT of science guys do. I just don’t get why, to be good at any subject is hard. I have an equal respect for all subjects, but I’ll stop here cause it’s getting off topic.
oh wow, its not about being an elitist asshole. Of course you are never going to hear a History major talk shit to a Math or Science Major. WTF is the History major going to brag about complain to the Math/Science major? The truth is, there is a growing movement that wants to lower already lowered Math standards because the majority can’t be bothered to learn basic Algebra, which in turn makes them shit tier in math above Algebra. Why should it be lowered? Because Its boring, or its hard? Those are not valid excuses to lower an** Academic** standard.
I bet if there was a movement to lower the English standard, the reaction would be an emphatic no by everyone. Why not the same for Math?
Example
Hitler invades Russia, Hitler splits forces in 3 groups a few months before winter hoping to take 3 cities. Winter comes and Hitler has not succeed.
Napoleon had tried invading Russia sometime in the 1800’s. He invaded around the same time Hitler did, and got to his goal about Winter time. Winter came, and Napoleon was out of supplies, the clothing his soldiers had where for summer, and as a result he lost most of his soldiers to the winter because he couldn’t get supplies.
Fast forward to Stalingrad, Hitler orders his soldiers to bunker in for the winter. Russians enclose the city cutting of the Germans from their supplies. Had Hitler studied Napoleon history a little bit more, he would have understood that telling his soldiers to bunker down was a very bad idea, especially since most of his soldiers where wearing summer time uniforms.
Why is it boring, and why is it hard? Using excuses like, teachers fault, standardized tests, or left vs right hemisphere won’t do anybody any good. What people want is to lower a standard with out first trying out other approaches. Lets try teaching math with out the standardized testing, or change the way we test kids on regular exams. Instead of the exam consisting of 30 problems, why not throw some logic problems, or problems that don’t ask to solve the problem, but explain the steps and why said step is valid.
Lowering a standard just because isn’t a very good excuse. you wouldn’t lower the Language standard just because kids find it hard or boring right?
first off, nothing in school has utility. how many people use literature, history, art, music, or math on a daily basis? very few. all those courses are completely worthless based on your critera. why dont we just teach kids how to use excel spreadsheets and schedule meetings in outlook, since that has way more “utility”.
second, you can’t be good at science unless you learn math a young age. by not teaching algebra at a young age, you are essentially preventing children from ever becoming good engineers or scientists. algebra is a pre req to higher level math courses. its just like a skill tree. you can’t unlock endgame skills until you have the basics down. and unlike a video game, you can’t possibly know what you want to do as a kid, so the education system is supposed to put a few skill points in all the skill trees so that you can have a variety of builds you can do as you level up.
someone who took only a basic logic class in high school is not gonna be able to pick up differential equations, nondiscrete probability, or number theory. it will be way too fucking late by then.
edit: and lol at the guy claiming math elitism. are you fucking kidding me? the role models in americas are worthless idiots like kim kardashian and the cast of jersey shore. stupidity is venerated, intelligence is vilified. people were complaining about obama’s elite ivy league education, while praising george dubya bush for partying and getting Cs because they could “relate” to him. people drive around with bumper stickers that say “my kid could beat up your honor student”. retarded shows like DEAL OR NO DEAL are hits, despite anyone whose taken even a rudimentary statistic course knowing how stupid everyone who plays that game is. no america is already dumb enough as it is, let’s not make it dumber.
Since when has algebra been ADVANCED?
This is so stupid. Algebra is about the only math that is actually is useful on a day to day basis. ’
Oh, and people who can’t grasp the role history has in military strategy are the same people who ask why top players play footsies. Read up on Hannibal, bitches. I’m coming at you. With elephants. Ducking forward. :tup:
Maths could be as simple as adding up how much you’ve spent on groceries, working out how much you should tip, playing darts. Its in every day life. Algebra can be very advanced, step off your high horse jeez. Simple algebra needs to be taught, like it’s been mentioned it can be applied to strategy, detectives use it, it’s everywhere.
When I studied architecture I did have to do anything more than basic trig yet they still wanted applicants with A-level in it :wtf:
The problem I think we have is that we are taught so many subjects till about 17 when we cut them down to 4 then we go off to university to study one. I can’t speak for everybody but I knew what I wanted to do when I was 15 some of my class mates earlier than that. If at 15 kids can decide to focus on 4 subjects then I think the standards for all subjects will be much higher, less time will be spent on examinations too.