I love Math! [For all math lovers]

[zeustrojanstark]

The other word of disaster is mathematics. There are some topics like matrices, profit and loss and trigonometry which are the only saving grace. Probability and statics is the worst punishment one can ever get in their life. Thank god i finished my schooling, college and i am working in a MNC now, hopefully i don't need to face maths in my life again. God knows how i cleared the mathematics papers in my engineering

 

[thedon5]

Love Maths Hate Algebra

Ahh, how refreshing. Kids that think arithmetic is maths. I suggest you quit now since maths is 99% algebra.

It makes me a bit sad tbh that I'll never do maths again. I loved it even though I got badly screwed over in my last ever maths exam, purely since I found it so easy. Unfortunately for me that ease didn't translate into physics, which was a nightmare!

I remember how scared I was to do calculus, and then being so pleased when I realised it was the easiest part of maths.

 

[P Squared]

Maths is piss easy, needs a lot of practice but after that its piss.

 

[Varun]

It isn't. And that doesn't matter, anyway.

 

[Abhas]

Maths is piss easy, needs a lot of practice but after that its piss.

I disagree completely. Maths doesn't need practice, it needs logic. If you're practicing a lot, you're simply programming your brain to think in a particular way. It works well for an exam, doesn't work in real life.

I've remember having been trying to calculate the probability of this:
In a 4 digit no, what is the probability of a number repeating, or a 0 occurring.
But never succeeded

 

[P Squared]

Probability and permutations/combinations I agree need logic(and as it is these are the topics I have the most problems in)

Differential calculus really doesnt need anything

I dont think you can get anywhere in Integral calculus without practice

Algebra, I think what I've learnt is fairly basic(complex no.,matrices/det, binomial theorem,ap/gp/hp) so I don't know about that, but that which I have learnt is easy.

 

[Abhas]

The most important thing is knowing what to apply where.
In business, we face so many mathematical situations, which need decisions on the spot, we need to know how to calculate whatever we're trying to.

 

[P Squared]

The most important thing is knowing what to apply where.

Comes with practice that. Or maybe if you're super smart, you don't need it

In business, we face so many mathematical situations, which need decisions on the spot, we need to know how to calculate whatever we're trying to.

I am a student, so I wouldnt know about that. I can only tell on the basis of what I have experienced so far, most of which has been exam-centric so it may come across as a bit naive to someone in finance, but that is what I think anyway.

 

[Varun]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but easy it a rather relative term. In high school and even college calculus, we assume a lot of things and then work our way towards the problems. Which is, because the main aim is to score on the test. Once you begin considering what the assumptions came from, that's where the real shit begins. Like when you think about how does the integral of a function comes out to be the area under the graph. When you think about it, the proof you know (and I know) doesn't really prove anything. Likewise, when you begin to consider what exactly it means when we claim that the area of a circle is pi*r squared, which is an irrational number, you'll be befuddled. There are plenty of more examples.

What I mean to say is, of course solving the questions is easy, sometimes even without practice and with a bit of logic. I've never really had a problem either when I've gone through the entire theory. That being said, the questions for the international olympiads or the national tests like (*edit) RMO in India or the Putnam Test in the US essentially require you to think right and practice doesn't help that much.

 

[P Squared]

Out of all those tests I've only given IMO, got an international rank 392 on it(which is more india than international really) and I honestly found it to be more of a test of how fast you can solve problems rather than how well you think. WHat I mean is that there were loads of questions which I left as they required me to use up a lot of time thinking on them, and if outside the examination hall I'd been able to sit peacefully and solve them, I could *probably* have solved a few of them.

Agree with the rest of your post though, and as I said before my experiences with Maths have been limited to examinations only so in that respect I said its easy.

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Edit-this was inreply to your previous post which you seem to have deleted, why I dont know

Yes but if you're not giving me enough time to think properly, you're not really testing my thinking abilities are you?

 

[Varun]

Oops, I was talking about the RMO. My bad there.

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I was talking about the three-stage mathematics olympiad held in India. It begins with the RMO, where you've to solve six questions in over three hours. Then there's a second level from which a national team is shortlisted to participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad, the real IMO. Not the SOF one.

In all of these exams, the objective is to solve just six or seven questions over a few hours.

 

[P Squared]

I've given that(RMO) and I agree with you, its a whole different ballgame. I was only able to solve 1 question lol(out of 6 I think)

 

[Varun]

Yeah. The SOF IMO is a piece of shit. Even if you are good at it, you get bored of it.

 

[thedon5]

Maths is piss easy, needs a lot of practice but after that its piss.

That's the case with a lot of subjects in school, but Maths especially. Having a logical brain definitely aids in that. As Abhas says, the shit storm comes when you actually have to apply it to real life. I'm glad I wasn't into accounting or engineering for that reason.

International Maths Olympiad is tough stuff. A friend of mine was the top mathematician in the country and was top out of all people sitting CIE A-Levels in my year in all subjects including maths. He only came around 50th with a bronze medal... That certainly isn't 'a piece of shit', I hope you guys are talking about a different IMO.

 

[P Squared]

Yes we are its this

IMO | Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)