Why Math Isn’t as Useless as We Think
We just need to look more carefully.
Most of us spend our lives believing that math class was possibly the most unnecessary part of our education. The conception of math as having no real-world application begins in our early schooling, and it often lasts up until college (fueled by everyone who isn’t majoring in math but is forced to take college calculus anyways). Just the other day, I saw an Instagram post that said “Another day … still haven’t used y = mx + b.”
The issue I have with posts like this is that they miss the point. The math in our world is not hidden or nonexistent — we simply refuse to see it. In part, this is due to myths about math that we pick up during childhood. However, as we grow older and more consciously choose what we learn, for some reason we still choose to ignore math. If only we paid attention, we would see it everywhere.
Imagine for a moment that you are given the opportunity to watch someone go through life, from the moment of birth to his final breath. Let’s call this person Kyle. At different points in Kyle’s life, you check in with him. You get to see him growing up. When you first meet him, he is just an infant crawling around his crib, curiously exploring the small but new world around him.
