If someone were to accuse me of being a nerd or a geek, I would probably not disagree with them on either account. Both of these terms define me pretty well. The thing that I would disagree with is throwing an adjective on the front of either word. I really don’t have a specialty at this point. I say that because I am about to talk about mathematics and I am not a math nerd. I enjoy math. I like to read well-written math books and I understand them. I am just not actually that good at mathematics. I like the puzzle that it presents but I do make simple errors in my calculations when I get into harder problems. Don’t tell my boss or my students as I teach mathematics.
Most people that I talk to about this subject pretty quickly glaze over and want me to move on to the next topic of discussion. Math facts, matrices, trigonometric proofs look like gibberish and harbor back torturous memories from high school that are long forgotten. I get this. Math facts are boring. The sad thing is that for most people, this is where mathematics has stopped. Mathematics is this rote ménage of meaningless that they will never use after high school. I actually won’t disagree with the idea that most people will not use higher mathematics in their daily life because it is true. Yet, I will still advocate and argue that everyone should become at least familiar with Calculus because of what it shows one about the world.
Mathematics is often taught on this disconnected subject that has little ties into the real world except through obscure word problems with the crazy guy buying 47 watermelons. Who even likes watermelons? At least have the guy buy something that people actually want 47 bottles of, like beer, burgers, briskets, or something. Mathematics is actually something so much more.
Mathematics is the written language of the physical world. It is the bridge that maps out the paths of life. In and of itself, it may be beautiful, but it can also be meaningless unless connected to the world that is around us all. To give an example, when I teach the physics of motion, I will talk about hitting another planet with a rocket. We need physics in order to know how all the forces work, but we need Calculus in order to know when to shoot, the speed, and the path that the rocket is going to take. Because when you take two spinning objects that are rotating around another objects, all going at different speeds, it is not a simple problem to balance any of these thing together. This is the job of mathematics.
You may counter that you never plan on shooting a rocket to space. I think that is a fair assessment of your life. Most people are not going to do this. Most people should not be trying to do this. These same principles can be applied to kicking and bending a soccer ball with my son. The calculations behind chemistry help to understand how the fats in brisket break down to turn a tough piece of meat into buttery goodness. The numbers in biology show how my body reacts to food so that I know what I need if something is happening. To know that the body runs on electricity make my muscles spasms and tweaks make perfect sense and how to help them stop.
Mathematics is hard and a lot of work. It does hold the keys to a view of the world that is waiting to be seen. Like those who do not travel only see one chapter of a book, so too do those who are ignorant of math only see a flat picture of the magic in the world. There is an order to the universe that one can only see through a study of mathematics and the sciences. This does not elevate these subjects above any others. If anything, the point I am seeking to make is that the fields are level, and mathematics get a bad wrap because there are some many people who just struggle with it. They will often throw their hands into the air and say, “I guess I’m not a math person” and move on with their life, never to work on it again. It is actually perfectly fine to struggle with a subject. One just has to continue to struggle with it. It is not ok to give up.
It is important to see the whole world and all its knowledge as interconnected. Theology, Literature, Mathematics, and Science are not things that stand alone. They actually weave together beautifully. One must study all of these together in order to see the full picture. Otherwise, the world is this disjointed thing that makes about as much sense as String Theory. Life is a journey and the destination is a place outside of this life. Mastery is not the key. Growth is.