is what the teachers say true??? that you need it for the rest of your life?

Question

i think thats a load of crap. they only say that because THEY DO! as math teachers!! no way on earth am i going to need to know alllll these formulas...and if i have a job that i need them in....I'LL JUST MEMORIZE THE ONES I NEED THEN!!! i agree that basic knowledge of basic math concepts is of course necessary. but does anyone else think you dont need it as much as they said you would??

ha im not a whiner, believe me! you dont even know me so shut up. im just saying whats important in life is not a bunch of number problems!

hey i know being smart is a good thing! i did well on the math part of my ACT!!! the thing is i dont think it will be used that much in my life.... even most parents i think agree with this.

i think we got a lot of math teachers in here lol....

what if i wanna be a milkman?? !

lol at the flipping burgers comments. ummm you dont even know me so you best shut ur mouth when it comes to the insults. i think ur just mad at urself for some reason! lol

Answer 1

i completely agree with you! i ask my math teachers if im ever going to need this crap that they r trying to teach us and they cant ever give me an answer...unless your going to be a mechanic or enginier or a scientist or of course a math teacher you dont need alot of the useless stuff they r teaching you

Answer 2

How is your teacher supposed to know what you are going to be when you grow up? You may not turn out to be an engineer, but the girl sitting behind you might. The teacher's job is to get you ready.

So, which should it be? Should we use strong tracking like in China and Japan and only teach math and science to the students who did well on a test in the first grade? That goes against what it means to be an American. The educational system here is based on the idea that anyone could grow up to be president or an astronaut. So, every student needs to be taught in the 5th grade and the 10th grade so that they still have the chance of doing that.

If you can't do the math, then there are a lot of doors that are closed to you. If you were the teacher or the school board, would you accept the responsibility for picking which kids don't have to take math?

Answer 3

Your attitude is really bad. You need to relax and think things over seriously. Maybe get out and get some exercise. I doubt your teachers are telling you that you have to be a math whizkid like them.

You don't have to memorize formulas, but you do need to learn and remember the general priniciples of calculations, number relationships, algorithms, and applied computational methods.

Unless you go into the sciences or engineering for a carreer, you are not likely to need anything above about 10th grade algebra and geometry.

It's not all that hard, and if you just relax and let it flow over you, it can be very peaceful to understand how mathematics describes the way things fit together. Think of it as a meditation, or a way of focusing. Solving a few equations will put your problems out of your mind and help cut tomorrow's enemies down to size.

And as another answerer noted, unless you want to run a cash register at McDonald's for the rest of your life, you will need some math in almost any career you choose.

How do you grasp a nettle? Firmly.

Answer 4

I agree with your feelings about this. You are probably bored with the snail slow pace of school. We're forced to learn a year's worth of information over 18 years, and then go to college and learn some "liberal arts". What you want and need is a full time job. But you're too young and without the high school diploma very few jobs will take you seriously, especially when you want to advance and make more money. 90% of what you learn in high school, math, science, history or english you WILL forget. The main reason you have to repeatedly memorize and spit out this information is to keep your brain working and exercise various mental abilities you MIGHT need later. And since you have to wait 18 years to do anything, career-wise, you need to keep your mind active, or you'll end up not knowing how to write a job application, or how to add up your expenses to negotiate an appropriate salary.

Answer 5

I teach college mathematics, and the comments of my students are very telling:

Many--but not all--traditional freshmen (about 18 or 19 years old) tell me that they hate math and that they don't see why it's so important or where they'll use it "in real life." They just want to take the minimum requirement.

But EVERY non-traditional student (an older adult who is returning to college, sometimes 20 or 30 years after leaving high school) tells me that they wish they had taken more math, or had paid more attention in the math courses they did take whenever they were last in school.

It's not always the easiest thing for me to come up with examples where you need math "in real life;" it's just always sorta there on some level. You may get better advice from someone you know; I suggest asking a working adult over 40 years of age.

Answer 6

Yes you do need it. I have pounded a calculator so long that I almost forgot basic arithmetic. The problem with learning math, is that it is boring, and that makes it seem useless. The best thing to do, is every time you learn a new formula, try to use it somewhere that makes sense to you. Go use it to figure out how tall a real tree is, or how wide your street is. Learn how to use your watch instead of a compass to find North. Your watch will tell you where south is.( in the northern hemisphere)

Answer 7

Actually, I think you will be quite surprised to find that you do use a decent ammount of the stuff they teach you such as perimeter when figuring out how much carpet you need; percentage as in how much you will be able to save when the car you want to buy goes on sale; basic math to balance your check book or do a budget; fractions if you are measuring to cooking several things that use the same ingredient and want to know how much of that ingredient you need all together; I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I used to think the same as you that what the teachers said was all just bull to brainwash you, but since I've gotten older and had to live on my own, I have found that they really were telling the truth.
You probably won't remember it all, but you'll be surprised how much will come back to you when you need to remember it.

Answer 8

Knowledge is always good. If you think you will memorize what you need after you get the job, always be prepared for the lower paying, harder working jobs. Employers can hire anybody and then train them to do what they need. But if they can hire a person that already has the knowledge they are looking for they will go for the better prepared candidate.

You are not even thinking about an employee aptitude test. There are companies that test for general knowledge before hiring potential employees. There is no reasonable way you are going to know what is on the test until you are there. By then it is too late to learn it.

If you set your standards that low, you will be a drone all of your life. Learn all you can now. You will not need to know it all, but you will not know what you do need until you get there.

Answer 9

The important thing is not remembering the formulas, but learning how to problem-solve. This is an essential skill that you will need for the rest of your life.

Without a good background in mathematics you can forget about a job in the hard sciences, engineering, business, or finance. Without a good background in problem solving you can forget being anything but a corporate drone.

So go for it! But do the world a favor and get a vasectomy first.

Answer 10

In some respects what you say is true. You do need your basic math skills in everyday life. Add, subtract, divide, and multiply. Unless you get a skilled job you won't need much more for day to day life. If you plan to goto college however there are sometimes some forms of math you have to have taken in high school to get in so if you anticipate going to college you want to check into that.

Answer 11

Dude...the other day I was having a party and wanted to order enuff Pizza for everyone....so I had 9 people there and each Pizza was 16" in diamter, so I had to figure out the area of each Pizza to determine how much each person would be able to eat. SO...pie being 3.14598498746146467614367616467676341787883 I determined that I needed 14 Pizzas......see what happens when you skip Math. Cost me like $300 bucks to feed 9 people.