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Why do people generally hate Maths?

Reply 100

Zhy

17

Original post by samjj8

Shut up and get back to your David Beckham studies class.

At least it's more vital to the economy than maths.

Reply 101

Accalia

12

I think that the way people view maths, and how it is taught plays a key role. After having a different maths teacher almost every year of my education, only one was passionate - the rest were miserable, constantly saying "pay attention, this is difficult" or "this isn't easy", making it seem pointless to even bother with it. Friends and relatives who don't like maths will often say so, and it becomes acceptable to hate maths and find it pointless.

I fell behind in maths in primary school, and spent all of high school thinking "I've never been good at maths, I never will be good at maths, why bother?" I focused on English a lot more instead.

However - AS physics made me enjoy maths (albeit basic maths), so I took up maths at AS as well. Now I love maths and people tell me I'm mathematically minded. To think, if my problems with understanding maths at primary school had been addressed I wouldn't have gone so many years hating it.

Reply 102

xoxAngel_Kxox

21

Original post by Zhy

Physics is to maths as sex is to masturbation. Furious, frustrating masturbation.

Mathturbation then? :biggrin:

Reply 103

sparklez

I love maths, but i hate it now i've taken it for A-Level! i enjoy just going to the lessons etc, but when it comes to understanding it and the exams i hate it!
im not speaking for mysel here, but people at my school don't know when they'd use it in the outside world! so therefore don't see the reason to learn something when they can just do basic adding/subtracting/multiplication/division :smile:

Reply 104

rainbow.panda

17

I did Maths at A-level and it was pretty difficult but actually I quite enjoyed it. I really like algebra, probably because I like formulas and logic, I guess I just have that kind of mind.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 105

Aspiringlawstudent

3

I was taught very poorly.

I think I would have more interest in it if it had been explained properly, rather than having just been given a book and told 'do all the exercises on pages 25 through 30' or something similar for a few years.

Reply 106

TheHansa

11

Partly because people are not good at it. Partly because it's so badly taught.

Reply 107

jordanosborn

7

People fear what they do not understand. I think if mathematics applications were emphasised more such as its use in computers, designing bridges etc. There would be a lot less people who find maths alien. Even if they don't want to work in a maths related field, people should understand the relevance of mathematics. If more people realised that mathematics is the underlying tool of modern society then more people would appreciate it.

Reply 108

weirdnessandcoffee

15

The thought of it makes my blood boil.

Reply 109

F1's Finest

21

Original post by Zhy

Because the people taking A-level Maths are generally stupid. Maths is just for physicists who don't want to get their hands dirty. Whenever someone tells me that they took an A-level in Maths, I immediately treat them with less respect, and tell them to **** off and do something useful with their life. I'm in total agreement with Gove's ideas of revolutionising the A-level system, making all exams linear. Combine Maths and Physics into one giant A-level so people can stop trying to specialise in something that's barely even a subject (in the case of Maths, that is). Why study A-level Maths when there are plenty of other diverse A-levels that are far more vital to the economy, like Philosophy, Media and Japanese? I sincerely hope the maths faculties at all Russell Group universities get torn down and made into parking lots.

I have no clue who that guy is, I agree he sounds arrogant.

You fool, you are the guy i was referring to.

Gordon Bennett!!

Reply 110

molly.

I don't think maths is taught very well in the UK, at my school at least it was reduced to a series of random topics which were never related to one another or even really explained. There would be little bits that I'd find interesting, but you weren't supposed to think about them because then you asked questions that made things more difficult for the teacher, and we'd move on so quickly that I'd soon forget whatever it was I'd had an interest in. I have a friend who does Maths at Cambridge though and her course sounds brilliant -- I definitely couldn't cope with it, but brilliant all the same.

Reply 111

Superunknown17

17

I can't do it, I've never been able to do it, attempted it at A-Level for some unknown reason, dropped it after 2 weeks and picked up Politics which is by far one of my favourite subjects which I plan on doing at uni.

Reply 112

Dhaal_Chawal

11

It's generally seen as uncool, and apparently it's hard

Reply 113

MrHappy_J

14

Because I'm not good at it and I find myself at university studying a subject which I thought I'd like but which STILL requires me to do maths at a level which for me at least is unbelievably hard, when I'd hoped never to touch it again after I'd finished secondary school.

Rant over.

Reply 114

Phantom Lord

13

Original post by Muscovite

It is a well-known fact that Mathematics is only studied by child molesters

Everyone in the country was a child molester at one point? That's food for thought.

Reply 115

mel_1991

9

I have Dyscalculia. Reason enough to dislike Maths.

Reply 116

MrHappy_J

14

Original post by jordanosborn

People fear what they do not understand. I think if mathematics applications were emphasised more such as its use in computers, designing bridges etc. There would be a lot less people who find maths alien. Even if they don't want to work in a maths related field, people should understand the relevance of mathematics. If more people realised that mathematics is the underlying tool of modern society then more people would appreciate it.

I think it's more to do with the fact that people have maths forced down their throats from their early days. I'm sure most people see the use of it in society but have little use for it themselves.

Reply 117

HotfireLegend

I've never been able to understand it, quite honestly. When I got moved to foundation, it was rather easy. The gap between foundation and higher is a bit too large IMO - the higher runs at breakneck pace, not allowing for time for things to settle in. Additionally, repetitive calculations are one of my pet peeves, and I really hate repetitiveness. Once, I got so frustrated (when I went back into higher) I got a nosebleed. Go figure.

Oh, and a lot of the material covered appears irrelevant to most people when they take maths, especially things like Surds. Without knowledge of their real-life applications, its viewed as 'pointless'. I don't even know what a Surd is used for in any job, lol. Trigonometry could be useful in architecture, but I've never been told that. A little extra detail could go a long way, as well as reduction in the material that has to be covered. Heck, if the exam papers were changed so you could do ANY (10) questions, then you could choose to do only those relevant to you later in life. That may help massively.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 118

jordanosborn

7

Original post by MrHappy_J

I think it's more to do with the fact that people have maths forced down their throats from their early days. I'm sure most people see the use of it in society but have little use for it themselves.

Yes, and what do you suggest? That we don't make children learn mathematics? I'm sure a lot of people don't understand the true impact mathematics has had on society. They may realise it's important but do they really understand the consequences of a society that has no mathematical understanding?

Reply 119

jordanosborn

7

Original post by HotfireLegend

Oh, and a lot of the material covered appears irrelevant to most people when they take maths, especially things like Surds. Without knowledge of their real-life applications, its viewed as 'pointless'. I don't even know what a Surd is used for in any job, lol.

Surds are useful as you can manipulate the numbers more easily than you can long decimals. It's easier for calculations basically. It's also much nicer to see √2 rather than 1.41421356237. Take a right triangle with sides length 1-1-√2 this would make calculations involving anything with right triangles easier to manipulate. It's also a way to show an exact value of something √2 is irrational so it is a non terminating decimal meaning that surds are a way of showing the exact value of √2.

Why do people generally hate Maths?

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