Lois’s answer to “While reading a book about math errors my mind kept turning toward Prof. Vorthys and "engineering f…” > Likes and Comments
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I would say anyone who enjoys the visuals generated by math are math fans. The author Matt Parker uses the metaphor of sports, noting that many students are taught the drills and dribbles but few are ever encouraged to go and play on the field. His point is that the way math is taught leaves out the best parts, the fun, so it isn't surprising that there is such a strong anti-math culture. I think that metaphor is very apt and I would take it further. With sports we can enjoy watching professionals play/perform, even if we ourselves could never do those things and wouldn't want to spend hours everyday practicing as they do. There are even many of us who play amateur versions of the professinal games, typically at much lower skill levels but we have fun doing it anyway. Just because we don't activly play is no reason not to like a game or to consider ourselves fans. I think we could and should approach math the same way. We are already having an increase in math fans who, thanks to internet videos, can enjoy watching the professionals play. More people are seeing how fun it can be to play with math and are trying it out themselves on their own levels. It sounds to me like you would be a math fan who doesn't play games but enjoys watching them. I enjoy watching the professionals and play a few lower level games myself when I can, especially when I can find like minded friends to make a team.
Although one of my college majors was math, I wasn't exposed to the "real" basics until I took a modern algebra course, and was introduced to the various number sets and their fundamental postulates. If I'd seen these earlier I could probably have avoided the tedious memorization of differentiation, integration, and linear functions and got right to the heart of what math really is.
I admit, I'd recommend Nancy Leveson's Engineering a Safer World over math for this! I know, it sounds wild, but it's actually a *fascinating* read, and the first several chapters are basically "how humans cause disasters by forgetting that humans are fallible or may not think the same thing the designers did". It's *much* more about the humans than the engineering. Also available as a free PDF. For anyone who wants to take a page from the real-world Professor Vorthys and also learn some fascinating things.
Agree with liking to look at the graphs. I used to write high power equations and solved them with synthetic division then graphed them for fun. I'm still trying to figure out why I think differential calculus seems easier to me than integral calculus. I never needed them as a cardiac RN, but math is crucial in calculating doses in an emergency, especially during a code. There's nothing like calculating things on paper towels and bedsheets on the fly. Afterwards, we had to yell at people to not get rid of those things until we documented everything.
For all that I enjoy reading about both spaceships and horses - usually in completely different books, but not always - I have no experience riding in/on either. I would need help not fit the math itself but for how quickly a horse could arrive at any destination over varied terrain.
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Sandy
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Jul 22, 2020 08:35AM
I would say anyone who enjoys the visuals generated by math are math fans. The author Matt Parker uses the metaphor of sports, noting that many students are taught the drills and dribbles but few are ever encouraged to go and play on the field. His point is that the way math is taught leaves out the best parts, the fun, so it isn't surprising that there is such a strong anti-math culture. I think that metaphor is very apt and I would take it further. With sports we can enjoy watching professionals play/perform, even if we ourselves could never do those things and wouldn't want to spend hours everyday practicing as they do. There are even many of us who play amateur versions of the professinal games, typically at much lower skill levels but we have fun doing it anyway. Just because we don't activly play is no reason not to like a game or to consider ourselves fans. I think we could and should approach math the same way. We are already having an increase in math fans who, thanks to internet videos, can enjoy watching the professionals play. More people are seeing how fun it can be to play with math and are trying it out themselves on their own levels. It sounds to me like you would be a math fan who doesn't play games but enjoys watching them. I enjoy watching the professionals and play a few lower level games myself when I can, especially when I can find like minded friends to make a team.
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Although one of my college majors was math, I wasn't exposed to the "real" basics until I took a modern algebra course, and was introduced to the various number sets and their fundamental postulates. If I'd seen these earlier I could probably have avoided the tedious memorization of differentiation, integration, and linear functions and got right to the heart of what math really is.
I admit, I'd recommend Nancy Leveson's Engineering a Safer World over math for this! I know, it sounds wild, but it's actually a *fascinating* read, and the first several chapters are basically "how humans cause disasters by forgetting that humans are fallible or may not think the same thing the designers did". It's *much* more about the humans than the engineering. Also available as a free PDF. For anyone who wants to take a page from the real-world Professor Vorthys and also learn some fascinating things.
Agree with liking to look at the graphs. I used to write high power equations and solved them with synthetic division then graphed them for fun. I'm still trying to figure out why I think differential calculus seems easier to me than integral calculus. I never needed them as a cardiac RN, but math is crucial in calculating doses in an emergency, especially during a code. There's nothing like calculating things on paper towels and bedsheets on the fly. Afterwards, we had to yell at people to not get rid of those things until we documented everything.
For all that I enjoy reading about both spaceships and horses - usually in completely different books, but not always - I have no experience riding in/on either. I would need help not fit the math itself but for how quickly a horse could arrive at any destination over varied terrain.
