Frazz by Jef Mallett for October 11, 2024

I thought math was enjoyable until I hit Calculus.

I’m making another stab at learning it.

Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of scientists.

From basic arithmetic to calculus. First a sprint, then hurdles, then the wall. Many of us didn’t complete the run.

I personally generally don’t like math (geometry was the bane of my existence in school, well that and Latin, which coincidentally was taught by the same teacher), but there are those weird math-related things that I learn about now and then that I actually do enjoy. For example, when you reach infinite numbers (and yes, there is more than one, actually there’s an infinite amount of infinite numbers) our general math rules don’t apply anymore. Ten to the power of infinity is infinity, eight to the power of infinity is also infinity. And when you divide those numbers, you get an infinite amount of results (which is also what happens when you divide by zero, therefore you get an error code on your calculator if you try dividing by zero).

During my first semester in college, half the students in my section flunked calculus and took it again in the spring. Those were the days folks would say “you were not trying hard enough!” Thirty-three years later, I was one of 60 people in a mass layoff at a school in a university. At the job service center I took the “skills assessment survey”, something not offered anywhere in 1968. My results showed I received 8 or 9 out of ten in mechanical, spatial, logical, and language. My score in abstract subjects? 3 out out of 10! It’s a good thing that high schools that offer these tests can help today’s students avoid careers that they are not cut out for.

No thanks I’ll wait

Studying it won’t make you enjoy it.

Find out how it applies to something you like. I thought math was boring until I discovered how it could be used with baseball statistics.

So Caulfield’s willing to wait for the definition of math to morph into something he enjoys? I’m really curious to know his plan for living such a long life in order to realize such a thing!

Suspect that Caulfield would probably wait.

That makes my head hurt. It also explains why I drew cars during math class.

I never cared for math, but I wish now that I had worked on those rote practices, times tables and all that. And I eventually got into the basics of calculus, and discovered fascinating side branches like fractals and topology. You think you know how things have to be, and then you discover the Mobius strip!

I’m hearing Caulfield say ‘Study!’ in the same tone of voice Maynard G. Krebs used to say ‘Work!’.

I stuck with trig and geometry…

Math was one of the subjects I did best at in school. I even got a 5 on my AP calculus exam. But I haven’t used calculus since and have largely forgotten it. What can I say?

First you have to figure out how long you’ll wait and that takes math

“The claim in Frazz that the word “math” or the suffix “-math” referred to astronomy before around 1700 isn’t quite accurate, though it’s interesting. Here’s a breakdown:Math as a word: The word “math” comes from the Greek word mathema, meaning “knowledge” or “what is learned.” This root later evolved into terms like mathematics and polymath. Its historical usage has always been tied to a broader sense of learning, not specifically to astronomy.Suffix “-math”: In “polymath,” the “-math” comes from the same Greek root, signifying learning or knowledge across multiple fields. Historically, it never had a narrow association with astronomy. Instead, a “polymath” is someone well-versed in many areas of knowledge.Astronomy in history: Before 1700, astronomy was indeed considered a key part of learning, often grouped with other subjects like arithmetic, geometry, and music under the medieval quadrivium (the higher division of the seven liberal arts). But it was never synonymous with or the primary meaning of “math” or “-math.” Astronomy was its own respected discipline.So while astronomy was a critical branch of learning, especially in ancient and medieval times, the suggestion that “math” referred specifically to it is a bit of a stretch."

I get quite a kick out of my AI buddies.

Technology marches on. Language follows only fitfully. Many people still refer to dialing their phones. (I haven’t seen a phone with an actual dial in something like four decades now.) Video crews are still said to be filming something. Ratting someone out is still colloquially called “dropping a dime on them”, referring to untraceable pay phones. And people whose flat-screen TVs are hard-wired to the Internet still say they “tune in” to “broadcasts” on “the tube”.

I’m so glad I’m retired and I don’t have to deal with Math and its siblings anymore. The closest I come to anything with numbers is balancing my checkbook, come to think of it, I just go on the app and voila, that’s how much money in in the account, no need for Math or even a calculator.

Understanding something doesn’t always mean you’ll enjoy it…

See? You can always learn SOMEthing! From the time I was in junior high I always volunteered for stuff. In high school I volunteered for hall monitor during second lunch. I was sitting at my post reading David Copperfield (y’know, learning writing, English, history, literature…) and a nun bore down on me and excoriated me as if I were reading a comic book. I’m so glad I don’t have any children in school!