Math Is Fun Forum

doug1234

Guest

God I hate math

I'm trying to learn intermediate algebra at the age of 37 for a community development degree. I was never really taught this at the age I was supposed to, never learned to enjoy math.....It's even more difficult with ADD and attention problems. When will Parabolas be useful in the degree I'm in? Algebra is the only class I had to take multiple times. Although I wish I was taught this in school because my life might have been different. I have a D in the class right now. I'm not kidding, I have a pathological hatred of this subject. I actually ripped a math book in half because of pure frustration.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: God I hate math

Hi;

I'm trying to learn intermediate algebra at the age of 37

I started really trying to learn math at the ripe old age of 70, that was going on 27 years ago...

I actually ripped a math book in half because of pure frustration.

Well at least you are getting your exercise. You should feel privileged, most people can not tear a book in half. I suggest you start reading the Abramowitz Stegun book. Even a reppie can not tear that in half.

I have a D in the class right now.

A,B,C,D, E... you are in the top 5.

Algebra is the only class I had to take multiple times.

I took Algebra 11 times that I can remember. Nothing good ever comes from the first 10 tries.

When will Parabolas be useful in the degree I'm in?

Parabola's will never be useful, I just tried to use one, the day before yesterday, and it turned out the problem required a catenary instead.

I have a pathological hatred of this subject.

So do I, so what is the big deal? I hate it more than anyone and yet in all probability I am the best in the world at it. It is true that it is a very small probability and I did not mean this world.

God I hate math

God already knows that.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,618

Re: God I hate math

hi doug1234

Welcome to the forum.

You have come to the right place.  When you encounter a bit of algebra that you cannot understand, post the details here, and we will help you.  I recommend you join as a member.

How are you with arithmetic?  This might seem an odd thing to ask but it is relevant.  The rules of algebra are the rules of arithmetic.  When I'm teaching someone an algebraic topic I usually start by asking "How would we do this with numbers?"

There's also a wealth of pages plus practice questions here:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/index.html

Bob

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Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob

iamaditya

Member

From: Planet Mars

Registered: 2016-11-15

Posts: 821

Re: God I hate math

And after you have finished them...for more advanced topics...go here:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/index-2.html

Last edited by iamaditya (2017-03-30 20:06:48)

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Practice makes a man perfect.
There is no substitute to hard work
All of us do not have equal talents but everybody has equal oppurtunities to build their talents.-APJ Abdul Kalam

tanith

Member

Registered: 2017-04-26

Posts: 9

Re: God I hate math

Concerning the question when aspects of math are useful:
I've heard/read that question a lot and even though math is an integral part of what I'm doing right now I found that math becomes useful in real life when you yourself make it useful, i.e. you can get around without using math but once you learn more and more aspects of it you start viewing some things differently and may even find that applying concepts from math help you in understanding some things or even let you find a solution more easily.

I realise that this is a bit abstract but you need to get into the mindset to apply that. For example if you have a schedule where you need to make sure that the tasks are evenly distributed among a number of people but some of these people may be available on fewer days you could try to do that with some linear equations etc.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: God I hate math

I know how horrible some math lessons can be. Our algebra teacher thinks that all we should learn from his class is a bunch of notations and some boring proofs. He does not encourage us to solve any fun problems.

By the way, Here is a bunch of activities that could possibly help get over the math hatred.

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: God I hate math

That fellow left out doing EM. But I am glad he did.

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: God I hate math

Look at point 8

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: God I hate math

I saw point 8 and your earlier point 7 from which it was derived. But they do not exactly recommend EM...

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

jenny0

Member

Registered: 2017-07-17

Posts: 1

Re: God I hate math

Math drives me crazy.

zetafunc

Moderator

Registered: 2014-05-21

Posts: 2,436

Website

Re: God I hate math

How come?

Welcome to the forum, jenny0!

Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,618

Re: God I hate math

hi jenny0

Welcome to the forum.

Some of us were crazy even before we learnt any math. 

Bob

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Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob

Monox D. I-Fly

Member

From: Indonesia

Registered: 2015-12-02

Posts: 2,000

Re: God I hate math

And being crazy helps in understanding math better.

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Actually I never watch Star Wars and not interested in it anyway, but I choose a Yoda card as my avatar in honor of our great friend bobbym who has passed away.
May his adventurous soul rest in peace at heaven.

Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,618

Re: God I hate math

I have given this some more thought.  The original poster gave this thread the title "God I hate math".

It is a widely held view that God is a very good mathematician, because the 'rules' of the Universe can be expressed as mathematical equations.

It is also a view in many religions that God does not intend life for humans to be easy.  God expects us to have to struggle with things, but also to overcome difficulties and be successful.

Putting these ideas together, I think this means that maths will be a struggle to understand but God would like us to try and that we can succeed.

Whatever, you have come to the right place.  Here you can get help with understanding maths. 

Bob

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Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob

sansanicz

Member

Registered: 2018-06-29

Posts: 1

Re: God I hate math

When I was in school I think that maths is something I will never be used in real life. But now I am started investing and looking into economy. Math is strong power to check reports about companies and is strong tool. I also love play mmorpgs games like bns. I have even bought recently bns gold. Playing mmorpgs force me to the intensive thinking about meta-data of the game. Maybe lots of you will be suprised but on e-sport tournaments in the top teams are employed data analysts. Mathematics is always behind the victory.

Last edited by sansanicz (2018-07-11 23:22:21)