 Why
Learn Math ?
TEN
REASONS TO LEARN MATH
- You
develop your "lifelong learning" skills: Asking
others for help, looking stuff up, learning to deeply focus on
tasks, being organized, etc.
- You
develop your work ethic: Not making excuses,
not blaming others, not
being lazy, being on time, not giving up so easily, etc. This
is more important for "success"
than
raw IQ. There
is no shortcut.
- You
get better at learning complicated things. You
are less afraid of complex ideas and classes.
- You
develop pride & confidence in your ability to
understand complicated things. This is not fake self-esteem,
but
one that is earned.
- Certain
careers in science, health, technology, and engineering
require
serious Math skills. High school is just the start.
- Once
high school is over, intelligent & motivated
people are generally more interesting and happier.
- Your
SAT and grades determine the quality of the college you attend.
A
mediocre college costs the same as a top ranked college.
Half
the SAT is Math.
- Your frontal
lobe is not done developing until age 25-27. The more things
you
learn before that age, the more things you can learn over your lifetime.
- 20% to 40% of college freshmen take remedial
courses. Do you want to retake high school courses
in college, or do you want to take real college classes?
- Because
it's on the final exam... ;-)
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Below is an excerpt
of market
trading ideas from a portfolio manager friend of mine. It
demonstrates something that
many people overlook about higher Math. It
is a communication language that develops higher order literacy, not
just a "rote skill". If one does not know Calculus, then they
will not be able to understand the sentence highlighted below.
> I
drew a
picture of the GDP growth on a napkin but can't reproduce it here.
Simply said, we all know the economy downshifted around Sept. 15 2008
around Lehman/AIG. Now as we lap that in a few weeks the YOY data will
start to inflectand look
dramatically better. We lapped the Bear Stearns fiasco in March and
look at the following rally in March 09. The bears have been hanging
their hats on deteriorating data points but come Sept. 15, the 2nd derivative will
no longer be simply improving but in many cases the 1st derivative
will be flat to positive. This
doesn't help the shorts. I'm finding myself grappling to keep shorts on
nowadays. I'm using GOOG as my biggest short.
The Second Derivative
May Be Turning Positive
There Is Always the
Second Derivative
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Logic.
Trains your mind. Trains your memory. Unraveling a Latin sentence is an
excellent exercise in thought, a real intellectual puzzle, and a good
introduction to logical thinking. Latin involves a similar process to
that used in Euclid's geometric proofs, (Q.E.D., Quod Erat
Demonstrandum=That which was to be demonstrated) or, to the thought
process involved in trying to fix your car. You have to be able to SEE
things and the connections between words and concepts.
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