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How come we have to learn boring maths?

By Murray Bourne, 05 Dec 2007

A reader of my Interactive Mathematics site recently wrote:

How come we have to learn how to do maths? IT IS BORING

I replied with the following.

Hi Terry [name changed]

Thanks for your question.

Is it mathematics that's boring or is there more to your question?

One of the big problems is that math teachers have a lot of content to get through and don't have much chance to make things exciting.

I know I can't convince you that mathematics can be interesting in one letter, but let me point out some of the stuff I enjoy in mathematics:

Math of Beauty

Music and Trigonometry

Music and Fourier Series

Fractals

Fractal tattoos

You may also find Danica McKellar's work (and book) interesting:

Actually, if we expect something to be boring - it will be. If we approach things looking for the fun side, that's what we are more likely to find.

Good luck with your studies and I hope it is not too boring πŸ™‚

Regards

I'm not sure if it helped since I didn't get a reply from her.

See the 2 Comments below.

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Posted in Learning mathematics category - 05 Dec 2007 [Permalink]

2 Comments on “How come we have to learn boring maths?”

  1. fatman says:
    13 Dec 2007 at 10:37 am [Comment permalink]

    y is maths so boring like y couldn't we play sport every once and a while

  2. Johan de Nijs says:
    16 Dec 2007 at 2:25 am [Comment permalink]

    Math is the language of nature, of the cosmos and of the realities(3) we live in. Math is not easy, but is exciting when one asks questions. Only when the person her/him self is boring math will become exceedingly boring.

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HTML: You can use simple tags like <b>, <a href="...">, etc.

To enter math, you can can either:

  1. Use simple calculator-like input in the following format (surround your math in backticks, or qq on tablet or phone):
    `a^2 = sqrt(b^2 + c^2)`
    (See more on ASCIIMath syntax); or
  2. Use simple LaTeX in the following format. Surround your math with \( and \).
    \( \int g dx = \sqrt{\frac{a}{b}} \)
    (This is standard simple LaTeX.)

NOTE: You can mix both types of math entry in your comment.

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