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Article, if taken seriously, might explain something about chemistry. But maths?
by hugh 18y ago
Article, if taken seriously, might explain something about chemistry. But maths?
- newt0311 18y agoMath is easy to explain. The only place where a student can be exposed to real mathematics is in select universities. All the other places teach arithmetic which is most useful to a dumb calculator. The central problem with teaching arithmetic is that it is only suitable for the average calculator and so the average human gets bored and over time, we get the perception that mathematics is boring and "just a dumb tool," neither of which lend themselves to a high proficiency in mathematics.
- gaius 18y agoVery true. It wasn't until I went to university that I learnt my first interesting maths. It was literally mind-expanding, suddenly a whole class of things I couldn't even think about before was, not easy, but certainly possible.
- aswanson 18y agoI simply could not appreciate mathematics until university. Memorizing times tables and repetitive drilling is not the way it should be taught at the earliest introduction. I don't know how it can be done properly, but the way it is done at the early phases bored the hell out of me. Later, much later, I learned to appreciate it's power and beauty.
- tel 18y agoI remember, and it couldn't have been more than 15 years ago, when you could buy compasses in stores. At that time any curious 10 year old could pick up Calculus and get cranking. But today parents will get worried. Why isn't he out playing baseball or texting people? The police might even get involved. "Are you making vectors kid?" Today everyone says they should just go to school and do multiplication tables like all the rest. That way they won't grow up weird.