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Like all kids, I despised math. It was never one of my strong points, but things became increasingly difficult as I progressed to higher classes. In college, I attended extra classes to make up for my weakness in math. I was fortunate to go through with an above average grade but most of my class had a poor score. Many either failed or just managed to scrape through. Trig was a pain, with its unending proofs. But Trig was not half as bad as Geometry. My pet hate was something called Analytical Geometry with all the talk of finding the locus of something or the other. It had its own proofs even more terrible than Trig. I never understood why we had to do learn all the proofs. As somebody remarked, "Why should we prove it? It's already proved!" We were never told why we had undergo all this, except that if we wanted to graduate, we had to complete the course. As a matter of fact, I liked and still like science. I never had this sinking feeling when studying Physics or Chemistry or the Life Sciences. It was math alone which gave me nightmares. When I look back, I still shudder when I remember the ordeal I had to go through. Like all students then, I too asked the question, why should I study all this hideous stuff? Am I going to find the locus of some geometrical shape as part of life or job? Why did we have to solve the myriad Trig proofs, which we were never going to use in real life? There were no answers - neither from the teachers nor from fellow students who genuinely (shudder) liked math.
Now, years later, I try to find the answers. Though they will never make me like math, I do find the answers satisfying to a degree:
Math is an essential skill. At the very basic level, you have to know the concepts to survive in everyday life. And at that age, it is easily absorbed and never forgotten since we keep using it everyday. Beyond that, it is a skill aimed at improving our logical ability and analytical skills. A growing brain requires such activity to sustain its growth. Higher sciences use maths to a large extent. Imagine that everyone hated math and so there were no takers for it. Would we have had all the engineering and scientific wonders that we witness today? So somebody has to learn math and we should be glad that there are people who find it enjoyable because it is these people who lay the foundation for future engineers and scientists (I agree wholeheartedly with this line of reasoning as long as I am not asked to do math again).
Probably, most of the pain of learning math is because it is so abstract. "These are the rules and formulas - memorize them. There are the Sine and Cosine and Tangent and Cotangent - remember, they are not the same. Then there is a shape called parabola and another called hyperbola - don't ask questions - just remember them and use the formulae appropriately." And more on the same lines. No wonder that most people hate math with a passion. I know a person who chose his field of specialization to completely cut out math. He is a medical professional now (Honestly, I find it difficult to accept the argument that even medical professionals need to know math. They never need to know more than the basic stuff). For such people the above logical arguments on the necessity of learning math will never appeal. He will probably carry his hatred for math all through his life and probably pass on the same to his kids. If only earning math can be made more interesting. I came across an interesting article here:
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
It requires real talent to explain a dry and abstract subject like math in a way the students will relate to. So we will continue to see hordes of kids emerge from school who despise math and carry their dislike throughout their lives which is a pity. I myself wish I had been taught math in a practical way, instead of the maddeningly abstract way which I had to endure. Maybe I wouldn't have acquired the intense dislike for the subject. Not that I would have fallen in love with math and gone for a career in math, but at least I would have understood it better and applied myself to getting better grades. Well, at least I don't feel the same way about math now.
