How come when it comes to something that is already deep do people like to just dive right into math.?

Question

Even though I have looked up all of the terms and I know what they mean, it's just that all this math makes things seem meaning-less

Answer 1

I think I can help you on this one. You actually seem to be asking several different questions.

Why do some people like to dive into math? A lot of reasons -- some because they're just nuts, others because it's the only thing they're good at. I liked math because it was a safe haven in a tough childhood. It didn't yell, criticize, or ridicule. It didn't have unpredictable moods; what was right one day was still right the next day. Not a bad world to visit, is it. Another nice thing about math was that I didn't have to do a bunch of memorizing. I just practiced a lot and then there were seldom any surprises on the tests. Biology, on the other hand, was memorization. Nothing can wreck a person's enjoyment of a perfectly good frog faster than having to remember its Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species for a test.

Are some people better at math than others? Yes, but most of the people who appear gifted are actually studying like crazy. I studied like crazy and got good grades -- AND --I'm with you on math terms. They're a pain. I got my college degrees in physics; that way I got to use math without having to care about terminology. If I need a term I look it up.

I have to tell you about the guy who was the worst math STUDENT I ever met. He was so extremely dyslexic he never could even copy an equation correctly from one line to the next. BUT, he could look at an equation for a few seconds and tell you the answer. He was actually very good at math; he just wasn't good at doing it the step-by-step textbook way.

And speaking of textbooks, it's the dry, boring textbooks that make things seem meaningless. The authors must be writing for future math Ph. D.'s instead of for real students. I used to warn my students not to read certain parts of some textbooks lest they become terminally confused. I tried to steer my students to some of the great math web sites available. (It just takes some time to sort out the good ones from the ones that are boring or trying to sell something.) One good one I found was www.themathlab.com/Algebra/algebra.htm. (Hmm. When I clicked on Preview to check what I'd written, Yahoo had chopped off half of the address. After Algebra/ comes algebra.htm.) And if you'd like to find out how relevant and funny math really is, go to FredGauss.com and read the sections "Product overview" and "Info." You absolutely won't believe your eyes!

Answer 2

It's useful to reflect on the fact that you just contradicted yourself. You know what the terms "mean", yet that makes things meaning*less*. What the terms and equations mean in the first sense is really all there is to what physics is all about; it's the correlation of mathematical models with observations. However, you're trying to subscribe another deeper meaning beyond that, otherwise you would not have repeated the word "meaning" in a different context. That deeper meaning would fall into the realm of metaphysical interpretation, which literally means beyond or above physics. You need to take a course in philosophy to grapple with that.

Answer 3

Mathematics is the backbone, the foundation of all sciences.
If you are uncomfortable with math, then you have not mastered the tools to proceed with your study of science.

You cannot read and write without knowing the letters of the alphabet. Math is like the letters of science.

Answer 4

Just reading math doesn't always enable you to do it. You need to draw diagrams and work problems out in order to get good at it.

Answer 5

Science is the theories and the so-called facts
Math is the proof, and keeps all the science from being abstract.

Like the poem? It rhymes!

Answer 6

Mathematics is the basis behind science, physics and engineering. I doubt you really understand it from your question.