[ SECRET POST #2450 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2450 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________
















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 031 secrets from Secret Submission Post #350.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

OP

[(Anonymous)]

On further reflection, "hate math" is easily conflated with "hate math class", which is fully compatible with any level of math ability. Shows what I get for impulsive secrets.

...And I guess I'm convinced that a lot of people who think they're bad at math are not actually bad at math. They may be bad at math class, they may be bad at arithmetic or conic sections or remembering trig identities, they may have been conditioned to freeze up and panic when the subject comes up -- but that doesn't make them intrinsically bad at math.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

How would a person who thinks they are bad at math be able to tell if what they actually are is bad at math class, in your opinion? I ask as the anon above who is great with electronics and, as far as I know, bad at math. I'm genuinely curious.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Basically, find out if you're already doing math and don't know it, I guess? I don't know enough about electronics to say anything, but there's this (obviously rather biased!) link: http://weusemath.org/?career=electrical-engineer Maybe if you're in a school situation and have an instructor in electronics you're comfortable with, you could ask what math you've been doing implicitly?

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Not OP

I figured this out for myself many years after school. One day I just realized that I use math a lot in my daily/weekly life and it was pretty much never an issue when I had to do it. It's mostly basics but sometimes not and I've had to look up formulas to calculate stuff but once I have the formula, I can do it. I had the formulas in math class but couldn't use them at all. It was like my whole being froze in terror the instant I stepped into the classroom and didn't unfreeze until I left again.

Re: OP

[starphotographs]

People who are bad at math class... Well, do so/so in math classes. But are generally able to perform tasks requiring numbers without resorting to work-arounds.

But if you're actually bad at math, especially past a certain point, you have trouble doing all kinds of things that most people don't really think of as math. Things like... Well, using myself as an example, I can't tell the difference between a group of five objects from a group of four objects at first glance, and have to look for the "odd one out" to be sure. Also, things like having trouble replicating a sequence of any kind.

Some people (myself included) will also have issues with things that don't seem related. Like left-right confusion, poor sense of time, trouble reading analog clocks, etc. But I think the biggest thing to look out for is if you find yourself doing weird stuff when faced with a number-related task. (I count change by thinking of different coins as different ingredients and memorizing the "formulas" for different amounts of money. And probably a million other screwheaded things that I'm not remembering because they're just the way I do things and not at all unusual. :P)

[diabolicalfiend]

I don't know, I have a degree in maths and I have all those issues. I just look for the odd one out, use my hands to decide left and right, digital clocks. I was just taught reasonably well.

[starphotographs]

Well, I've also noticed that someone can have unusual number sense without it necessarily being poor. But yeah, I think that there are probably all kinds of brain variations that cause those things.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Here's how you know. If you can solve a problem and get the correct answer, but be told you didn't find the answer the correct way and therefore it does not count? You're bad at math class.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I think that's what a lot of people need to be taught instead of "eh, it's normal to be bad at math don't worry about it" -- because chances are, you're not bad at it after all, but have been convinced otherwise by others.

Re: OP

[likeadeuce]

I'm just confused why it's difficult for you to believe that CHARACTERS hate math but easy to believe that the AUTHORS do? (Or else why would 'projection' apply?)

I'm not sure what fandom context this would even come up in, though.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

If an author says they hate pickles, I take them at their word. If an author has a character say they hate pickles, I recall the character was seen eating pickles without complaint in episode x.

Re: OP

[likeadeuce]

So is 'fanfic authors claiming that characters who are good at math in canon hate math' really a thing?

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

It was a thing at least once, inspiring me to make this secret without thinking it through carefully enough.

Also, in my experience, exclamations of "I hate math" are a lot more common from people being obliged to take a math class than from people in almost any other circumstance.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I mean... if you're a teacher and need to convince a reluctant kid to give math another try then I could admire this sentiment. But I imagine that most educated adults (as can be easily found in fandom) probably know themselves better than you'd think, and so wouldn't appreciate you speaking for them.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

they may be bad at arithmetic or conic sections or remembering trig identities

There are definitely different kinds of math and I can believe that people can be bad at one and good at another or love one and hate another. I was terrible at trig and I hate it. I am great with statistics and love it. I'm also good at geometry. Some people may run into a kind of math that just eludes them and suddenly they are getting bad grades no matter how hard they work and they draw the conclusion (or someone draws if for them) that they are Bad At Math. In reality, they probably already encountered types of math they were perfectly good at and may encounter more in the future, provided they are allowed to continue taking other math courses despite not doing well in one topic that someone decided must be treated like a required stop on a trip, as if math subjects were a progressive sequence.