Thread: Mathematics : Lover or Hater ?

I am OK with math as well leaning towards love I just hate the way it is thought at most schools...nevertheless, I'm glad I only have one math course left: numerical analysis - oh joy! I saw a previous exam, where one of the questions was "prove that 1 + 1 = 2; the sample solution spanned over two sheets of paper (hand written though).

>>box and wisker charts<<
I never did these until statistics - or at least don't remember them from high school. It was an easy 5 points on one of my midterms

where one of the questions was "prove that 1 + 1 = 2"

I hate this kind of question. I hate having to prove some mathematical theory or formula. I think i'll never get over it because i don't like math anyway. I'd answer that question with something like "my proof is that you can't prove the opposite". Smart answer , isn't it?

Believe it or not , im 19 and i still can't do the long division .*shrugs*

>>"my proof is that you can't prove the opposite".<<

actually this is a very powerfull proof technique: proof by contradiciton -I've used it countless times in my computational theory class. To say that you can't do something is just as powerful as saying what you can do - and sometimes it is easier to find the former, and impossible to find the latter!

that I'll leave to the Underground man - I wonder if anyone will get what I'm saying.

actually this is a very powerfull proof technique: proof by contradiciton -I've used it countless times in my computational theory class.

Yea we took that in discrete math , but its not done (or at least we don't do it) that way. We used to do it in a "mathematical" style with formulas and stuff , so i'd still be having hard time in both cases

a tad off topic, but is there a 'name' for, well, the following...

all numbers which add up to 3 or 9 are divisble by 3 or 9 ...
ex: 21 (2 + 1 = 3) 21 % 3 = 0
ex: 18 (1 + 8 = 9) 18 % 9 = 0

i believe there's something like this for every number up to 10 except for 7.....i remember learning this in elementary school. i would like to look it up and find out the 'magic' behind it.

50 voters and only 2 (including me) hate math .... wow

Originally Posted by Brain Cell

50 voters and only 2 (including me) hate math .... wow

Honestly I think once you really get into programming and understandiing - or wanting to understand how things work you will really develop a 'fondness' at least for mathematics. math is the key to the door of understanding; and the other sciences. without mathematics you're floundering at best.

Just a sidenote, they say many programmers become really good mathematicians and not necessarily vice versa. I honestly believe this has something to do with a programmer understanding the "non-necessity" of counting in decimal. There is such a door of understanding opened when I realized this and how "symbolic" mathematics really is. I'd say more in this diatribe, but i lost my train of thought. hate it when that happens!!!

I like math...
I used to hate it when I was at school because most of my math teachers were bad ones. I think your teacher is right, when it comes to programming you should at least be OK with math. If you want to get a university degree in computer science you must be OK with math. I had 6 math courses at the university, and most other courses are somehow related to math.

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Sometimes the problem isn't in the math itself, it's just that you've never been tought math right

Another math lover here, its the next best thing to playing chess!