7 Reasons Why Math is Awesome!

 I’ve been seeing a lot of posts recently about how “Why math is hard” or “Why math is out to get you.” I find these statements rather unfortunate. As someone who not only uses math regularly, but enjoys it (!!), I have decided to counter these with a few statements of my own!

7) You are already good at math but probably don’t know it.

Yeah I said it. You are probably good at many parts of math but don’t think about it. 

Doubling a recipe? Fractions! 
Quilting? Geometry! 
How many cases of beer for your party? Multiplication/division! 
How many pages until the exciting conclusion of this book? Subtraction! 
How much gas will this road trip cost? Algebra! 

Who says these skills are applicable to life?

6) Math could get you laid.

This isn’t as crazy as it might originally sound. People are often attracted to power and self-confidence. It’s not a stretch to believe that someone who can calculate tip in their head, and quickly, would have a certain allure. Now expand that to understanding the probability at poker or the ratios of how to make a good drink. If you are already scientifically inclined, maybe just talking stats over a fine meal is enough. (Come on baby, talk nerdy to me!)

Additionally, many of the high paying jobs in our market right now, particularly engineering and computer science, require lots of mathematical know how. If you want to wine and dine your ladies on the old fashion way, mathematical prowess could still get you there.

5) Math can be beautiful.

There is a simplicity and symmetry inherent in mathematics that can be considered beautiful. I like to think of it akin to a zen garden or poetry. My friend James says "[Just as] poetry can bury layers of meaning in tiny parcels of words, there are conceptual implications to math phrases that you have to work to make sense of." For example:

a² + b² = c²

E=mc²

e^iπ + 1 = 0

A =πr²

These are just a few examples of particularly simple formulas, however simplicity is only part of the beauty. For more complicated formulas google "Beautiful Equations". 

But think about it.. the fact that geometry works at all is amazing! You can be given a circle with some lines running through it and a few bits of information and using a bit of knowhow and some clever arithmetic, calculate just about everything else about those shapes! Amazing!

4) Math is the universal language

Because the truths found within mathematics are true regardless of who or where you are (OK geometry changes with your dimension and plane), numbers can be used as a universal language. Whether or not we are of the same religion or the same planet we can agree and find some common ground in our use of math.

3) Math can unlock a world of wonder in the mundane.

Look around you! Nature is FULL of patterns! Fractals (shapes that constantly repeat within themselves) are found everywhere from broccoli to rivers to the veins in our bodies. The Fibonacci sequence (golden ratio) is found in sea shells at the beach. Rocks thrown in a pool will create perfectly shapes circles that behave in predictable ways. Mathematical formulas are used to describe wind and clouds, acceleration and deceleration of your car, the symmetry of flowers, etc. Understanding them is kind of like being able to see the matrix.

2) Math is used to build the world around us.

Obviously math is used in computers, but think about the bridges and buildings around you. Geometry! Not only is math used to plan what we build, but it can be used to theoretically model things that our technology can’t yet create. In the 1820’s, what we know as the radio, was theorised by JC Maxwell while studying electro magnetic theory. It wasn’t until the end of the that century that “electricians” such as David Hughes and Heinrich Hertz were able to take this mathematical theory and build the first radio transmitters!

There are similar stories throughout much of science, physics in particular. The search for the Higgs Boson is based on the mathematical necessity of Standard Model. 

1) Math is fun and empowering!

Math = knowledge 

Knowledge = power

Math = power!

Last but not least, understanding math can be empowering! I know that many of us were told that math was hard when we were kids, but that is a lie. Math is just a puzzle. We play games on our computers and game consoles. Math doesn’t have to be any different. Rather than looking at a tough problem as an impossible hurdle, view it as a challenge, a game. If you are familiar with the thrill when completing a mission or killing the baddie you are familiar with the thrill of completing that tough problem. There is power in being able to calculate the world around you.

Remember: When you understand math, data’s your bitch!