Use of Math in the Real World vs. when you learned it
Use of Math in the Real World vs. when you learned it
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Yep.
I’ve used *calculus* before, actually. In real life, not just for engineering. (Leave aside that most engineers are wimps who make computers do their calc for them.)
Interest rates, areas, acceleration, etc. I even used trig and geometry to design a new quilt pattern.
I think it must be that people who don’t use math in real life just didn’t learn it well enough to do so.
I’m taking Statistics. I will NEVER use it.
sure you will, every time you buy a lotto ticket. or any time you say “Well, he’s got about a 50:50 chance.” or listen to a weather report.
The fact that you’re making quilt designs makes you weird. Did I say weird? I meant gay. Unless you’re a girl, then you’re just weird.
Oh look, someone’s jealous of somebody who’s actually learned a useful skill.
Most people never realize the quantity of mathematics that govern everything about their current day-to-day lives, let alone the countless, world-changing historical altercations that even the simplest Arithmetic has had. If you think you’re not using math, you are really just oblivious to the math that is governing your life.
Which would explain why I look at my house, the house across the street and their neighbors, and think “Gee, I wonder what the angles and side lengths are” just for fun.
Or wonder if I’ll ever need 10th grade geometry again, after learning it so long ago.
… unless you’re an engineer or statistician.
or a physician
Or make graphs…
-ist and -ian.
More on the difference between the two in next week’s suffix convention at Sussex.
Without calculus I probably wouldn’t be able to understand this chart!
Yes you would
so true
What, so you never took math past grade 10? That would explain why you never use it.
and why the increment on their x-axis is messed up
Amen…
Indeed.
You don’t? That’s why you’re paid the minimum wager.
The math I learned in 10th grade was proving triangles congruent. I haven’t ran into a real-life scenario for that, yet.
Geometry teaches the foundations of logic. Arriving at a conclusion from a given set of facts without resorting to intuition. What most people seem incapable of doing, don’tchaknow.
i create logic machines for a living and math only comes in at a basic menu
i create logic machines for a living and math only comes in at a basic level
someone had a good math teacher…..
Logic could be applied to a global level which would, by induction, stimulate a more efficient and slightly more utopian society. I base this argument on the most fundamental Game Theory principals where in it is reasonable to assume that there is a greater chance of picking the wi
winning* choice based on careful observation and consideration rather than chance. Therefore, this approach applied to all occurrences in “non-mathematical” areas of ones life will generate a more winning outcome. Meaning that by the elimination of ignorance and through rational thought processes, one may transcend a current position while minimizing effort.
And it’s “wage.” A “wager” is something you put forth in a bet.
You need to start judging yourself. And if this doesn’t make sense, just read your username…
Glad you took the time to explain that.
Repeat graph, but a McD’s employee handed me an extra dollar in change the other day and was shocked when I handed it back pointing out the simple error. She then proceeded to argue with me about it until I got out the PDA and did the math on the calculator. Eesh…
(C’mon, just take the damn dollar, young one, and let me think I did at least one good thing today!!! America is destroying itself as it decends into socialism hon, just give me this one tiny win, please? Will ya?)
“Descends” into socialism? What’s so wrong with an egalitarian society?
Maybe the fact that it has never worked anywhere in the history of ever and always leads to totalitarianism.
I think you’re confusing Socialism with Communism.
Beforehand, I would like to explain that most people Conservatives label as “socialists” aren’t in support of socialism in its purest form. Neither am I. The two watered down versions of it (democratic socialism and socialist democracy, with the latter being the less purely socialist of the two) are what the “socialists” support
Anyway, for some Social Democracies that have done quite well, please see
Sweden, Denmark, and maybe Norway. There are a few more, but those are the ones that stick out. All of the countries aren’t the slightest bit totalitarian, and they’re all some of the countries with the highest quality of life in the world.
Explains why kids cant make change in fast food joints.
They are working there because they can’t do math, which is essential for any job that pays any higher than there. Actually, McDonald’s pays about $9.00/hr in Utah, but if you really want a living you should be making at least $15/hr. And that requires math.
10th grade is a horrible cutoff point in this. How about we add in some integrals of trigonometric functions in 3 dimensions for those not going into astronomy/engineering/pure math/statistics?
Stuff you learn in Algebra is nothing, so quit whining.
Win
I agree with you, Richard. Yet 10th grade obviously taught this author how to construct an elementary Excel graph. They can start whining when they need to construct mathematical models of fluid dynamics or the like…
Yeah, when you’re flipping burgers you don’t need to know this stuff.
I’ve used trig in my everyday life, but none of the calculus. The only thing higher math classes have been useful for have been as prereqs for other math and chemistry classes.
No WAY!
Another graph from angry high schoolers who don’t like math class! AWESOME!
I hope there’s a sequel about how much they dislike geometry!!!!
Who says the graph maker is angry?
I’m not the graph maker, but I relate, and I loved classes like geometry. (Of course, I also love philosophy, so there you go.)
I’m not angry about taking geometry and calculus and all that. It was very interesting and expanded my mind. But when it comes right down to it, no, we don’t need to actually do in real life a lot of what we learned how to do in math. Some of us are capable of poking fun at our own selves, how we enjoyed these classes and they were useful for personal development but not so much for day to day, real world stuff.
And it is true, what is the most important seems to be what we learn earliest.
You forgot the part where it goes into NEGATIVE usefulness with college level math……
I did all the math stuff, never asked my teachers “when would I ever use this?” I was so trusting, so sure that they wouldn’t be wasting my time unless it was useful to me… some how some day.
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Now I’ve been playing in a pharmacy for just shy of a decade and the ONLY useful math I learned were decimal prescent conversions, fractions and ratios. I’m so many levels of pissed that I spent so much time beating my head aginst the wall trying to learn algebra.
concerned that this fella works in a pharmacy and thinks algebra is useless. maybe i will investigate my pharmacists more thoroughly in the future…
Do that, you will be very very scared.
Win.
Would you rather have never had a basic education? How about we make Secondary School (High School) optional? How would you like to quit right after Middle School? Leave High School for those who care?
For you, who finds math so trivial, especially algebra (which is so inherent to all math and thinking), I present this problem:
Fail = x
x-(you)=-(utter)
Solve for “you”
First, you subtract x from both sides, eliminating it from the left side of the equation:
-(you)=-(utter)-x
Then you multiply both sides by negative 1, so as to achieve a positive (and correct) value of “you”
you=utter+x
Then substitute x for its true meaning, replace the equality sign with “are” and the addition sign with a space, and end it in a period to be grammatically correct:
“You are utter fail.”
As a side note, I’m 16. I’m enrolled in high school and the people like you, who find a higher education so pointless (because it’s not “practical”), are some of the most depressing (and boring) people to interact with. What’s so wrong with learning for the sake of learning? With broadening your horizons? With knowing interesting little mathematical theories and ideas that allow you to interact with the world in a more knowledgeable way? That allow you to figure how much your loan is going to cost based on the interest and your monthly payment?
Personally, I find that being able to convert, through a fairly simple trigonometric process, 10 rotations per minute (an angular velocity) on a wheel with a radius of 13 inches to 0.12310606 miles per hour (a linear velocity) is nifty. And if “nifty,” “interesting,” or “insightful” isn’t enough for you, then maybe it’s time to rethink your life. What’s the point of life if you can’t get simple satisfaction in the ability to do nifty things?
The American education system has treated me well, and I’m sure it will treat me just as well next year, my last. It is true that I’m in advanced courses, but you still would have learned these things enrolled in the “normal” classes.
“What’s so wrong with learning for the sake of learning?”
I never said there was any thing wrong with learning for the sake of learning. I just never liked math, was never very good at math, and outside of school I have never used any sort of higher math. It annoys me that I was forced to try and pass classes in something I have no use for.
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“With broadening your horizons?”
I spend most my time reading and “broadening my horizons.” I’ve never stopped studying history, ancient cultures and languages in particular.
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“With knowing interesting little mathematical theories and ideas that allow you to interact with the world in a more knowledgeable way?”
I’d rather be able to reference obscure literature. You like pizza, I like apples… all a matter of taste.
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“That allow you to figure how much your loan is going to cost based on the interest and your monthly payment?”
I can figure that with out using higher math.
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I’m kinda amazed at the number of people who assume just because I find math useless in my daily life (and wish I’d never wasted the time trying to learn it) that I’m a complete boob… I feel compelled to explain a bit.
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I stacked the first three years of my high school education so that for my senior year I only needed a single, one semester class, and could have graduated at semester. Instead of doing that, I took a full class load my senior year! It was awesome, I took shop classes, photography, choir, art, more history classes, physchology, British literature, and creative writing. I could have done the practical thing and just left school early, gone to collage or work. Instead I decided to play and get in as much interesting stuff as possible… especially since I wasn’t paying for it!
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So, no, I am not a moron. Yes, I enjoy learning, and yes I think math is a waste of my time.
Win.
*blush!* Someone on the interwebz approves of me!
I approve of you random stranger
Yup.
May look like a win…but it took 5 hours to come up a comeback!
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ps. i figured that out with, yep you guessed it*MATH*!
4 hours and 50 minutes of which were spent doing other, unrelated activities.
You figured that out with first grade math, which no one thinks isn’t necessary.
It’s just the highschool stuff that is useless.
Wow fail patrol. You sound really nerdy. You must sit alone in the lunch table. You better hope that your education in math gets you a good job, because your personality definately doesn’t help. At your age you should be thinking about girls and cars…not a wheel travelling at a certain speed.
and once hes an adult he’ll be thinking about all the girls he has because of how rich he got off of whatever invention smart people make like computers.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
WHOOPS
not really, if we all forgot WW2 and a new hitler rose up, then germany would probably be nuked
No they wouldn’t. That’d screw over most of Europe.
You could’ve used it to get your X-axis proportional…
amen!
Anyone else doing A-Level maths and wondering what in the name of all that is good and holy Differentiation of Trigonometric Functions, and Natural Logs, are used for???
Trig Differentiation is for knowing how to evaluate their integrals in the future ;_; I imagine it’s helpful for finding planets, but can’t think of much else it has a practical use for, other than using for substitution in integrals.
The use of natural log is in chemistry for finding the k constant in first-order equilibrium reactions, as one thing that’s important for chemists/engineers.
Natural log is based on the constant e, which is useful for finding bacterial/population growth, temperature changes, and other instantaneous changes. It’s more important than you might think, but you yourself won’t necessarily use it.
Natural Log is also used in finance to calculate things with interest. Maybe we need to pay more attention to this? =P
Math is a useless activity originating in humanity’s desire to find pattern in life. Who needs that when you have REEEELIHHJYONNNN??
The Flying Spaghetti Monster makes your scientific, mathematical measurements and theories impractical and incorrect.
i just had a college trig test today in which i was couldn’t answer a single problem. f*** my life
Aaaaaand, clearly proper grammar isn’t happening either. Bad day all around, huh?
Willdog should just give up
why, with the power of math, you could calculate the exact speed and torque of your wrist, and the precise angle it takes, to flip that burger just perfectly right…
Or u could just eyeball it perfectly every time. (would it even matter, unless its your burger)
Yeah. 10th grade. In Trig. Doubt I’ll use circular functions in real life…
Since when is first through tenth grade the “real world?”
HAHA!
It’s pretty accurate too – university maths would have negative usefulness!
HA HA people who take this graph seriously need to just see it as the joke it is and not try and justify math past grade 9 its funnt people and your ruining the joke
It’s hilarious to see the importance of math ridiculed in graph form.
irony?
this is relevant how?
True. (i should know. i’m in one of those grades.)
Well… For me it gives lulz, but since I am preparing to go to university and study mechanical engineering, knowing trigonometry and geometry properly is a +1 for ease of university. I agree, the stuff, that people learn in university (Math, as in the nerdy stuff) is utterly useless, except when you think about it when you are trying to get rid of a hardon, when you’re wearing your wetsuit and preparing to talk in front of little girls from a christian girls school.
Definately a few amusing points in this… Especially the irony behind the fact that the uselessness of Grade 10 math (which includes making charts and graphs) is shown by… making a graph! Besides, if you had paid more attention in class you might have got the axis right.
Besides, you could show that relationship with a function of exponential decay, ie. A e ^(-t/b)
where t is grade, A is some constant of the original usefulness of math, and b is a constant relating the passing of time to that decay. Of course, you won’t learn this until after grade 10, and clearly is never useful.
Also, to say that you’re currently learning this stuff in class and that you think it’s true is kinda… how should I say this… retarded. You can’t vouch for it being useless in the real world if you’ve never actually been in the real world.
My point exactly!!!!