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having spent countless years of our lives learning do you feel it was worth learning maths.
im not talking about the simple things ie addition subtracting etc.
i've never used algebra or pi's theory etc. just the simple things.
i think its fat waste of time being forced at gun point to learn the more advanced forms of maths if you don't intend to use them in life...
Learning maths at school is a means to an end- passing your maths exam! so no its not a waste of time. Maths is used in everything. I dont like maths myslef, the majority of people dont but it is important.
i always wondered why we needed to learn differentiation and integration, now in my second year of my chem degree, i'm glad i did, it makes understanding where some equations and theories come from so much more simple.
Stick with it, you never know when u're going to need it, till you do, then u'll wish u'd stuck at it!
I'd guess that they only reason you have to learn pythagoras therem and all that is because there is only so much they can teach you about telling the time and finding how much change you'll get from a fiver if you buy a pack of cigs.#
Long sentence :(
After completing my Mech Eng Design degree, i've found very little use for it in the real world. Pointless waste of years. Hav used very little in the past 15+ years since.
No maths is not a waste of time, its used every where when you go shopping you use algebra to work out if a multipack of 6 cans at 1.99 is better or worse value than 6 cans at 42p each, You may not realise you are doing a lot of these things, but i personally think that its all inbuilt.
I agree that different people are good at different things, but personally believe that algebra and maths in general is an absolute requirement for kids.
TiG
My job is very unmaths related but occasionaly I do find it useful that I can perform simultanious equations, most of the maths I know (a level) I dont regret learning.
Maths is very important in my part-time course. If you want to become a software developer maths is an integral part of it. I never thought i'd use it for anything but i regret it now.
You may not be using maths in your job, but if you are using a car, tv, radio, computer, just about any electronic/mechanical product your using something that required maths in it's production, even the plastic for a comb has used maths in it's creation. It's also used in business, it's used everywhere.
At school and college they teach you a bit of everything, because at that age do you really know what you want to be doing for the rest of you life? (I wanted to be a Super Hero :D )
Even at degree level most courses are structured to cover a broad spectrum of possible careers, I did a BEng in Electrical Engineering (Computer Communications) and even though I may never use the maths I learnt again in my life I bet someone off that course will.
And at the very least it shows that you have the ability to understand the core principles, it's the same as learning History, English, Science it's all about learning how the world works.
Very aptly put mate. I still use the odd bit of what I learned, but that's not to say the whole experience wasnt enjoyable. It's the thirst for knowlege that drives us on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Devilbod
As a nurse, maths comes into drug rounds... u need to know about grams and miligrams, micrograms, litres and mililetres and their differences and how much is in each one. Most tablets come ready to dispense, but sometimes u get medication that needs working out... a really simple one would be 500 mg tablets and prescription is 250mg, how much would be needed? half a tablet! Thats easy, but some of them arent :(
A2 maths really sucks.....but Ill be glad when its over
what sort of diff/integ do you do ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmo
is it just numbers? because i can do that, but when you get to A2 maths and they expect you to integrate crap like e^tan squared, its a bit silly :p
After saying all that above I could never get my head around complex numbers, or ( i ) imaginary numbers, the square root of -1 to be exact, if it's imaginary then it doesn't really exsit, how can it be used to....
Arrrgh!
:)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swafeman
it's usually differentiation of numbers and/or terms. So far it's not with trig, but that's probably due to the small number of people who carried on with maths above higher level.
As for complex numbers, i loved them. Yeah, they're imaginary and you cant get root -1 on the calculator, but you just have to forget about that and tell yourself that the maths works and it's easy! :) that was about the only thing (aside from matrices) that got me through my first year maths course in uni :p
If imaginary numbers didn't exist then neither would electricity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Devilbod
To be fair though, the hardest thing you learn at GCSE is probably simultaneous equations(useful in everyday life), and then after that you don't have to worry about it.
I think it's worth learning for two things - it shows you can get your head round it and pass an exam, thus proving you're not entirely stoopid, and it also becomes ingrained in you, you'll find yourself countless times performing maths in your head throughout your life.
I hated Maths at School, took me four attempts to pass GCSE, but later, taking an electronics course, I found it interesting. I actually learnt how to use all those buttons with funny symbols on a scientific calculator.
Have probably forgotten it all now though :)
Maths isn't a waste of time but i generally think a lot of the wrong type of maths is taught to kids far too early on. Kids need to understand the basics fully and properly and how to add up WITHOUT using a calculator before they start doing much harder stuff like algebra etc.
Ben
I have waited YEARS for this thread...YEARS :)
I did O level -"A" pass, piece of cake, no revision....how simple?...you gotta be stoopid to mess that up (I mention now that WAS my opinion as a stupid child)
I did A Level - Un graded....what a flaming nightmare...therefore I WAS the stoopid one now,..hatred built :(
What a CONTRAST.......what a creation of evil......a deliberate attempt to manipulate numbers purely for the sake of doing it.
BUT:
.....I would hate to live in a world without Pythag's theorem....it is usable on a regular basis....even just in working out how long a sofa can be, in a shop before I buy it, when I realise I know how long my walls are but no idea how much diagonal space I have....lets face it.....the 3,4,5 triangle is a perfect thing. Nothing in Space/Time meets its perfection and simplicity.
A world without Pi would be horrific....just try calculating a gearbox ratio and a new set of tyres on bigger alloys without Pi :(..you can ACCURATELY measure the diameter and you know the tyre walls, as a percentage of the width, but to ACCURATELY measure AROUND a tyre is damn hard.
I loved Trig (not you Trig....triganometry) and I loved the ability to work out algebra.....I could see it and still CAN see it...
But to deliberately miss use and abuse numbers for no reasonable target OTHER than to prove a useless point....god no :(
Lets go back to 1940 ;)
I....however....am not expected to solve the Enigma Coded Messages that the Germans are using to target and kill thousands of our sailors and to sink millions of tons of our supplies and therefore starve my family and endanger their freedom...and WITHOUT complex Mathematics, Mr Turing and his colleagues would have got no where...and we might all be under Nazi rule.
What a sticky situation....to DESPISE a subject at a high level but to love it at a lower level....
Thats the dilema of being a Zak :)
Like floppybootstomp, I think it shows that you can apply yourself and have the inteeligence to do those sorts of things.
Secondly, at that age, since so many things involve Maths and you don't know what you're going to do yet, it keeps a lot of options open for you.
Mike
in half my a2 maths lessons i think WHY do i need this
were integrating the equation of an ellipse, with all sin, tans and cos's flying everything
and im thinking why, its pointless, ive learned all i need, i can problem solve and do simultaneous equations, i can work out anything i require, but half the stuff they teach is jibber jabber, like i, if it doesnt exist, why do we need to know it :S
well stats moduels are obviously useful and so are mechanics, so that only really leaves pure modules.
Mos tof that has ben explained...so maths is useful.
I agree that Maths is HUGELY important in EVERYTHING we do... I won't go on about it anymore as it's already been said by numerous people but there are hundreds of examples where maths, both basic and more advanced, are used everyday, sometimes without you realising.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zak33
That sounds just like my Spitfire.... :p
i think some maths is important depending where you go in life, some scientists use lots of stats [uuurgh] but others use logrithms. some use strange equations and some use simple stuff but above all that I could never understand the one about the two trains coming from opposite directions one at 40kmh the other at 60kmh and meeting somewhere in the middle...perhaps if they taught this more in today's society we'd have less train crashes??
Now there's a thought.
p.s. i did maths A-level (back when they were harder and meant something) and got an E...strangely I got a high A in GCSEs...i blamed the teacher who we often corrected when he made mistakes during working things out in front of the class. but now after 2 degrees its fair to say it doesn't really matter now...
oh and I use various stats things for what I've done but nothing very adventurous, matrices and vector algorthims too. fairly basic logic stuff...
GCSE Maths is much more straightforward than the A-Level. What you learn at GCSE is the 'practical' things like circumnference of circles, diameters, Pythag...u know the sort of thing!
A-Level starts to bring in the heavy stuff, but, doing a Business orientated degree and I more than thankful for doing the subject! By doing A-Level, you cover statistics, which is a complete module in my first year of degree.
Has Maths been worth it for me? Yep....every second :)