Poll: Lack of basic mathmatical skills

[Pandaman1911]

I've got to be honest, I enjoy a good bit of the maths. It's comforting knowing that absolutely everything in the universe can be spread out and boiled down to pure numbers. Makes me feel like there's some absolutes.

Unfortunately, I work at Walmart, which means I pretty much don't ever get to do anything more in-depth than multiplication. Which is a shame, because at one point, I had a pretty damn good grasp of trig, and found it rather engaging. Don't ask me to do anything now, though. Years of neglect has let it go stale.

 

[Megacherv]

We always used BODMAS at high school:

Brackets
Order (Sometimes it would be BIDMAS and have indices instead)
Division
etc.

Although division and multiplication can be interchanged.

My highest mathematical qualification is an A-level in Maths (passed with a B), but I'm currently studying Computer Science w/ Games Development at uni, so I need Maths a lot

 

[barbzilla]

Well your poll options are pretty stupid because of the silly job examples you tried to attach to them. You think engineers are the only ones that need math? Or that all engineers require them for their jobs? Wrong on both counts.

What does "highest mathmatical level of knowlege" mean to you? It's an odd question to ask.

An easy way to remember the order is with the phrase Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (I thought everyone was taught this in elementary school).

No one taught us that silly little phrase, and why would they? It's not a difficult thing to remember and remembering a phrase to remember something else doesn't necessarily make anything easier.

Well I am going to assume that you seeming rather hostile is just a coincidence and leave it there. I posted jobs with the description so that people had a reference level, it has nothing to do with me thinking those are the only jobs that require math. As a matter of fact I found it rather hard to think of jobs that didn't require math.

Highest mathematical level of knowledge would refer to your highest level of math that you know. For example Differential equations, calculus, or algebra. I figured this was pretty self explanatory so I didn't feel it was necessary to elaborate further.

As for the mnemonic I have already stated that this wasn't about the mnemonic. I can only assume you didn't read the rest of the thread, so I will reiterate. In the OP I am referring more towards everyone being taught some form of the order of operations in elementary school.

Hope this clears things up for you.

 

[Zakarath]

+1 to those people saying that right-to-left order is irrelevant/not a method of mathematics. Any properly written equation should have one result as long as order of operations is followed.
And for the love of god, if you're writing problems with division on one line, do it like this:
(9^2+3*2)/(3*4)
When in doubt, apply parenthesis.

 

[Moderated]

I'm not on facebook, but I do see people on the internet all the time that don't know the greater than sign from the lesser than sign.

 

[Ashadowpie]

math is the most important skill in the modern day society and workplace.

* sniff * i have a mathematical learning disability

Dyscalculia ..look it up. School pushed me every grade of elementary and High school. i graduated while failing that makes no freakin sense.. i did a real IQ test from my doctor and my math skill level is grade 3.

* sigh *

 

[CrazyDave DC]

I'm a third year Politics/History Major, so what is math? Definitely in the "know it, don't need it" category right now.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

May I include the option: yes, it's all around me. I just like it?

or: Math is poetry?

or: I've been out of a job for a while, but I still count the prices of my groceries out of my head?

 

[Kindastrange]

I find it hard to say if i'm good at math. I'm studying to get my bachelor in nursing and amongst my peers (read; other students) i'm really good at it. I think my knowledge of math is "close enough", i know the basics and i can manage harer stuff though i prefer a calculator to be sure.

As for how imporatant math is in my daily life: REALLY IMPORTANT (though i voted somewhat important, due to the fact that most math problems i come across are fairly basic)! If i screw up the math behind the medicine mixture in someone's iv (or more common mistake is getting the drip speed wrong) or something else, someone could potenially die (sounds really dramatic, but my father who is a doctor lost a patient because someone at the pharmacy got one decimal wrong). That's why everything is double/triple checked when dealing with meds.



P.S. Sorry if i'm butchering the English language again I'm a dyslectic and English is not my primary language.

 

[Muspelheim]

I barely use any maths at all in my life, and I've pretty much forgotten most of what was thrown at me back in school that I don't use.

I'm glad there's people who enjoy maths, people who are good at it. Mathematics are very, very useful and important. But I really don't want to, myself. And believe it or not, I'm not a second-rate citizen who can't tie his own shoes.

Again; maths are fantastic. I just don't like doing them, unless it's applied in a way that matters. I'll gladly leave that to people who actually enjoy it. Rock on!

 

[ManimalR]

I okay at maths, mostly I'm just out of practice, however ive always had a massive problem with division (beyond basic division like 120 / 12), ive had it explained to me a million times and its just never clicked. TBH I mainly just use a calculator, that is what they were made for. I mainly just use maths for scientific illustrations for my Palaeontology course

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

Taking Calculus in High School at the moment, and honestly, those things are a stupid way of indicating if someone understand math or not. At no point in an engineer's career will he be asked to solve "3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3x0 = ?"

I do agree though that there's a serious shortage of people who are good at and interested in math, especially here in America.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

Kind of limited the poll there, didn't you? I'm not an engineer but I find math extremely important to know. I don't use it everyday, but I pride myself on at least being able to solve basic Calculus.

 

[Connor Lonske]

i like math. it likes me. i don't need it, but i feel it needs me, as most people where i live don't understand it in the slightest and despite my learning disabilities i'm better than almost all my peers.

i can't even memorize the time tables due to my low attention span for such things and i do better than them. (basically i just do the math in my head every time using self made methods, while the people who know the times tables can't even do a basic formula or equation for the life of them.)

maybe i have an aptitude for logical thinking or something. ether way everyone tells me i'm smart just because of my math skills (which is funny because my technical writing skills are a lot more shit than almost everyone i know).

also who here solved einstein's "riddle" [http://www.manbottle.com/trivia/einstein_s_riddle] on their first try? i can't be the only one.

 

[fulano]

Well I'm studying Math and would like to be a Mathematician or a Physicist, because I find Math fun, I don't know why but it entertains me a lot and even when it's frustrating I feel really good when I solve a problem, but sadly I'm not very good at it, but I think that if I keep practising I'll eventually get good at it, I got discouraged from trying before when I took the stupid IQ test and it said that my IQ was below average, but I have decided that IQ is irrelevant and I can do anything I want.

Damn the captcha says "Pipe Dream", I'm pretty sure it's mocking me.
[sub]Obviously my answer it's pretty important.[/sub]

Just stick to it. Worked out for me and am doing my masters in Physics of Materials (I studied Physics in uni), now, so...if I can, you surely can. Just that, and keep in mind that there is no way around doing the work yourself, in the end.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I don't mind maths, I really don't.

It's just that maths hate me. I'm awful with numbers in general, they barely connect.

 

[fulano]

I don't mind maths, I really don't.

It's just that maths hate me. I'm awful with numbers in general, they barely connect.

Depends on what you mean by 'numbers'. Do you mean making calculations?