Math

"Why bother learning math? I hate math"

This difficult discipline is the foundation of success in everything else you learn that has any element of accuracy in it. *5/24/22 It unlocks the rest of the skill tree in the sciences. You have basically no chance of properly understanding Science and its related disciplines if you don't get darned good at this, sorry* If you want things to work according to plan, if you like having your constructions and inventions not break down, if you like having control over your environment, and if you like to know the truth, you need math. It helps you call bullshit when someone's lying with statistics. It defines the correct infusion rate of an IV drip to ensure patients don't die. It prevents screwups in the workplace when inventorying, making change, or writing checks. It is also a crucial part of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, engineering, finance, economics, medicine, and everything else worth learning. It lurks at or near the heart of all these, and the better you know how it works, the easier it is for you to understand them as well. These disciplines, if you 'get' them, are notorious for making your life both easy and good. Therefore, this difficult subject, math, might make life easy, and the better you understand it, the better you understand the other stuff, and the easier your life is could get. I would even say that good math is the backbone of every successful career, if for no other reason than calculating lifetime finances from that career, but it often plays a part in the job itself. Pretty big claims, but hey, that's what power does - it gives you a greater likelihood to succeed.

2/27/23 Here's a new term that has recently shown up in my studies: numeracy. After mulling over a statement by Theodore Grey in one of his books about how math is related to the language of the universe, well, that is quite correct. A lot of folks think in English, possibly in visuals and other imaginative stuff, but if you think in numbers, you can think in the language of science, and the language of truth. Numbers lie to you less than everything else. After a long time of hating math due to the rote memorization and abuse carrot-and-stick approach in my shitty schools, I finally like it again, and I suggest you slog at it also. It's worth every effort.

Books

Websites

Math Miscellany - the fun stuff, seriously this is really cool

Practical Applications: Try out what you learn in math as you go by actually using it in real life. That way you can see that it's not just philosophy and actually is useful instead of boring. Generally speaking math is a good subject to learn if you've ever asked yourself "How can I gain power in order to fend for myself as a capable adult in this world?" It is extremely helpful in understanding all the other sciences and in many other things.

R/osha probably didn't use math at all

Impractical Applications

A note on teaching math or on learning it: one of the things I noticed from a very young age is that math is commonly taught through rote memorization and the expectation that there are a bunch of seemingly arbitrary rules which you just have to accept without questioning. However, I also learned at a very young age that if you use anything powerful without understanding exactly how and why it works, it is usually a recipe for disaster or at the very least not being able to use the powerful thing properly. Therefore although it's far easier (and frankly a cop-out) to teach yourself or others math in the usual way of simple cram, purge, and regurgitate, I think it's far more worthwhile to explain exactly why and how every step of the way. Yes, that means using proofs. Yes, that means something like a hundred times the time investment. It is worth it.

Some tips for studying math if you, like me, have a brain that refuses to cooperate and understand anything in math, pretty much:

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