Oh Buddy, Why Is Math So Hard?

People are generally averse to math. I’ve never quite understood why, but they are. The toughest thing about math to most folks, methinks, is that it requires people to be able to do the same thing over and over again. Even though we humans are creatures of habit, it doesn’t turn out well when numbers are involved.
But the bigger problem? People aren’t quite sure what to do with math. Even a grip of the nerds in high school can take a derivative or perform some other piece of calculus without knowing what those things are for. Which makes the math itself nothing more than a parlor trick.
And sometimes, people get the math right and just do something utterly silly with it. Check this from the AP piece on the differences in prize monies for men and women at Wimbledon.

The All England Club announced Tuesday that the men’s winner this year will receive $1.170 million and the women’s champion $1.117 million, a difference of $53,000. It’s a 4 percent increase in British currency.

So help me out–dollars are British currency now? But as for math, wouldn’t it be a four percent increase in any currency? Numbers add up differently in different countries?
Maybe I don’t know math as well as I thought.

7 thoughts on “Oh Buddy, Why Is Math So Hard?”

  1. I believe they converted the money from pounds to millions in the article, assuming most readers on ESPN are more familiar with dollars then pounds. And then in general it is saying that it is a 4 percent increase in British currency (pounds). It makes sense although it is confusing. In both cases, whether you look at it as pounds or dollars, it is in fact still a 4% difference, give or take a few tenths based on current exchange rate. $1,170,000 is actually about 654,322 British Pounds, and $1,117,000 is about 624,682 British Pounds. About 4% either way, but not exactly.

  2. I never understood the fear of math either until my freshman year of college. I used to help my girlfriend at the time with her math. I had never seen anyone so afraid of math and I didn’t understand it till I met her parents.
    So I go up to visit her and meet them during the break. After I told them my major at the time (mathematical economics) they looked at me like I was gambling with my future cause math is so very scary. I actually had to explain why i wasn’t afraid of math. And then it was all clear.
    I was like wow, she gets it from her momma…
    The trip was off to a great start…

  3. I’ve always loved math and grammar, but hated history and literature. It is kind of ironic since I’ve always been an artist (art/architecture major in college). But, maybe that explains why I switched from art to architecture…

  4. I never understood mathphobia. Math is so…orderly. Ever since I was a young nerdling, I relished a crisp page of unanswered math homework problems. When I heard (in jr. high, I think) about studies that showed girls faring worse in math than boys did, that made me work even harder at it. Choosing Econ as a major is still a decision I regret, but not because of anything math-related.
    I sucked at geometry, though.

  5. As a cool ass nerd (always have been, always will be), I must confess to a serious aversion to math. No explanation, no root cause. I seriously checked out in the fourth grade (or was it third?), when it came to fractions and percentages. I still freeze up when it comes to anything having to do with them. And I work at a talent agency (also known as “the ten-percentery”), dealing with numbers all day. Anyway, it really makes no sense because I’m a total trivia buff, and have a great memory (I never forget a face, and tend to remember even the most minor of details.) As a future Jeopardy champ, I will have to get over it.

Leave a Comment

Sorry this site is not allow to view source.
Scroll to Top