fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2450 ]

[ SECRET POST #2450 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2450 ⌋

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

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Maybe it's just the fandoms I frequent but the the characters always seem to be very good at math.

...maybe it's because I'm mostly into scifi fandoms? Is this a problem in non-scifi fandoms?

+1 I nearly failed several of my math courses in college (my other major helped me graduate), and actually failed one, but I still came out adoring math. The high level stuff is elegant and mindblowing, a pure kind of beauty, and I appreciate it the same way I'd appreciate great poetry. I feel really sad that middle/high school algebra is what most people think of as "math" and that schools have taught so many people to hate "math".

To be honest, the kind of math I was taught in high school, I hate. The kind of math classes I liked were a thorough and deeply involved in the topics though they typically covered a shallower range, but also kind of rare for math classes (and I still got low grades in, in part because I didn't have the 'foundation' of lower math skills to build up on). I actually got into an argument over my dad with this, in which he talked about a lot of the processes and underlying concepts and I had to ask what the fuck he was talking about, and explained that "math" was "memorize this equation for this problem", and the closest 'real world applications' were word problems no one would ever do in real life. (Even one of my math teachers said outright that unless we went on to mathematic fields, we were wasting our time in that class because we weren't learning anything important, it was just a state requirement.)

It wasn't until I started reading stuff on my own about things like submolecular physics and high-concept stuff that I started to care about math. Also, the first time I realized math could be something other than what I was learning in school at the time. Ironically enough, I had a math class where I often knew more about certain specific topics within the subject than the teacher and knew well enough about the class to help the teacher out, yet I still failed because I didn't do the homework, which was basically 2-3 hours of busy work and part of the reason I hated math in the first place. Most math teachers gave a shit ton of homework that no one ever bothered to do because it took too long; we all just waited until a resident math nerd who loved doing it was done, then copied it. I asked one teacher, even, how we were supposed to study for our classes if we were getting so much homework, and she actually said "...you're not". *headdesk*

you are not the only one, nope

I'm terrible at math to the point where I can't even like it in practice, because I just can't do/understand it.

But I also think it's super interesting and love it when people explain things to me in ways that I can understand, especially if it translates visually in some way.. Things like geometry are awesome when I'm not the one fiddling with the numbers.

Geometry was the only math course I got a good grade in since leaving middle school. I love mathematical concepts and stuff, probably because we were never really taught those in school so I was still interested by the time I read up on them independently. It's only the tinkering with numbers I hate, in large part because the most of the math I was taught in school was about processing data and numbers with little attempt to have us learn the underlying concepts and such. I had one teacher who taught us those concepts, and her classes were the only ones I did well in. And despite the fact I'm a writer, I've been told many times by many people that I have a mathematical/math-oriented brain.

It disappoints me, the size of the gap between what's taught in school and what math really is. When I listen to my parents and friends talk about how they were taught math in other countries, it seems no wonder that the U.S. is falling so behind.

You know, I was always told that I had "good math concept," which confused people even more when they saw that I can't do crap with numbers. (I was an adult before I found out that this is a thing. Ask me about operational dyscalculia! :P) So I hate the tinkering with numbers part because I can't really do it. And it's kind of a bummer that I'll never get to do calculus, but eh. There are lots of other things in the world that I can do.

As an interesting aside, I've never really heard of someone who has a specifically writing-oriented brain. There are just people who write, and the stuff they write is kind of informed by the way they think and perceive the world. Which is awesome!

(I was once told that I should try writing screenplays instead of novels/stories, because I get a lot of inspiration from movies, and the way I imagine scenes is kind of movie-like. But I like doing written fiction, and the way I imagine things makes me good at writing in first-person, so nyeh! XD)

*asks about operational dyscalculia* (No, really, what is that?)

But in all seriousness, I think I have a similar issue, though with more of a quantum physics slant. I can process non-Euclidian geometry just fine, but I couldn't solve a conic equation if my life depended on it. (Fun side note: I took Algebra II, the class where you learn conic equations in my state, twice in high school, yet it wasn't until college that by chance/Wikipedia walk I learned that conic equations were derived from/based on cones. How this managed to not come up beyond a passing mention in my classes, I still don't know.)

I don't think it's necessarily a writing-oriented brain, so much as being wired for more linguistic aptitude than mathematical one. I've had a lot of people tell me my brain seems more math-oriented, yet I'm a writer and my primary hobby is creating and playing around with languages (except I'm more interested in a language's grammar and syntax, the part of learning a new language most people hate, and it's just learning the new vocabulary that I dislike, yet that's the part about languages most people are into.)

I've considered trying my hand at screenplays, actually, mostly because my writing tends to be low on the description and high on the dialogue. *shrugs* I haven't tried it yet, but I once I had that idea, I started writing as if my story were playing out on a movie screen, and once I shifted to that perspective/angle, the quality of my writing got MUCH better.

Edited 2013-09-18 12:52 (UTC)

Operational dyscalculia basically means that you understand what you're doing, but can't. It's kind of a headtrip, because I would understand what I was supposed to do right away, but actually trying to do it... Just wouldn't work.

Also, I have frustrated the hell out of everyone who has tried to teach me math or help me with math homework.
"*explains* ...Do you understand?"
"Yep!"
"Okay, then do the problems."
"*does them* Done!"
"*looks at paper* ...WTF!?"
...And this will repeat again and again until the other person realizes that they're tilting at windmills. :P

That sounds oddly familiar to me...

I was really, really bad at English and I love it. In fact, that love is what kept me working hard at it. Now I'm a published writer so go figure.

So I don't think you're that strange, no.

(And yeah, the fact that you don't run into it probably has to do with what fandoms you're in.)

You are a much better person than I. :) I just gave up on math in school, now I just let myself enjoy reading about mathematical abstractions every now and then without trying to worry about doing well in math classes at school.

I wouldn't say that. Everyone has their limit. The fact that you still like it without the pressure of failing is great.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2450 ]

Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?

Re: Dude, I suck at math and I like it...wait, does this happen often?