Why does everyone hate math instead of English? - >not science or math

[Pissmaster]

There was a college algebra course I took where the teacher just got visually exasperated and loudly sighed any time someone asked a question. He also didn't grade on a curve, and something like 80% of the entire class (including me) failed his course.

Later on, when I retook that same class at a different college, I had a much better teacher and cleared it with an A, because the teacher actually cared, and used practical examples to explain the material.

Just have math taught by people who aren't total fucking autists and we'd be alright.

 

[Mariposa Electrique]

I'm way better at science, writing & grammar. Math is just terrible. It has very few practical applications unless you're an engineer ot accountant.

 

[Slimy Time]

Math class was also one of the leading causes of anxiety and feelings of inadequacy I saw. I could forget about English class if I wanted to and then spring right back in whenever I wanted. This is not the case with math. I had a surgery that kept me out of school for over a month at one time, and when I went back to English class I was up to speed on almost everything within a few days. I was totally lost in math class, and that has a snowball effect of lagging behind and being unable to catch up. After a while many people will just give up because they feel that they are stupid or unworthy unless they make special arrangements to catch up.

I personally didn't dislike math class as much as my fellow students, and I certainly don't dislike math itself (I actually find it rather cathartic) but to waste so much time on things most people won't utilize is one of the worst things you could have in an education system.

This is the reason people hate maths. Maths is like building a pyramid, you have your foundation that needs to be solid, then another layer, then another, and another and so on. Everything builds on the work done in the previous year. Miss school/don't keep up and you are screwed. Combine with weak teaching of the basics, and its no wonder people hate it, especially when they are forced to do it.

 

[Antipathy]

I always hated English more, even though I got equal or better grades in it than math. With math, there was at least a right and wrong answer, and it was, if not easy, at least possible to get the empirically correct choice every single time. Of course, I didn't have amazing teachers most of the time and don't really remember much of anything beyond basic algebra, but it's still doable. I had a shitty time with math in my younger years because I wasn't ever using it for anything at all, but once I took my first chemistry course and started to see math applied, it clicked and I started working harder on it.

With English, it was about bullshitting the teacher correctly to get your A. So I would spend most of my class observing the instructor and trying to determine what they liked and didn't like, then I would tailor my essays and shit to that, unless it was later in my academic career, where I would just get bored and try to make the most unnerving and uncomfortable essays I possibly could while still getting high grades. Once I started doing that, English became fun.

The point is that both, in my opinion, are taught wrong. English should be about clearly expressing yourself and for inspiring thought in others. Math should be a practical skill applied to the sciences for the purpose of determining something important. Both can be used in some capacity by anyone in any field, but they are taught in such a manner as to make them both feel useless.

 

[The best and greatest]

I always hated English more, even though I got equal or better grades in it than math. With math, there was at least a right and wrong answer, and it was, if not easy, at least possible to get the empirically correct choice every single time. Of course, I didn't have amazing teachers most of the time and don't really remember much of anything beyond basic algebra, but it's still doable. I had a shitty time with math in my younger years because I wasn't ever using it for anything at all, but once I took my first chemistry course and started to see math applied, it clicked and I started working harder on it.

With English, it was about bullshitting the teacher correctly to get your A. So I would spend most of my class observing the instructor and trying to determine what they liked and didn't like, then I would tailor my essays and shit to that, unless it was later in my academic career, where I would just get bored and try to make the most unnerving and uncomfortable essays I possibly could while still getting high grades. Once I started doing that, English became fun.

The point is that both, in my opinion, are taught wrong. English should be about clearly expressing yourself and for inspiring thought in others. Math should be a practical skill applied to the sciences for the purpose of determining something important. Both can be used in some capacity by anyone in any field, but they are taught in such a manner as to make them both feel useless.

Tbh some of this is good stuff to learn.

Being able to identify your audience and craft your work to be best understood/received by them is one of the requirements for being a successful writer of anything.

 

[mindlessobserver]

I think its the way our brains are wired. Most humans are wired for abstract thinking, not the kind of linear thinking that math tends to demand. Its no accident people who are good at math are often very eccentric and socially awkward. The type of mind wired to do complex equations is fundamentally abnormal. Not in a bad way mind you, but in a general "humans as social creatures" sort of way. English is a subject more suited for baseline human cognition. As such its more popular.

of course, the very best Mathematicians are freaks capable of both linear and abstract thinking. They also tend to be very crazy in some or many ways.

 

[PsychoNerd054]

I’m going with lack of interest and lack of confidence.

I think it’s because there’s this whole idea some people have that you inherently have to be some kind of genius or that you have to have the “right brain” (At birth that is) to understand math. Granted, the very best in the field are freakishly intelligent. But as a skill, absolutely anybody can be adept at it. It just takes lots and lots of practice to do it right.

Even then, there are plenty of websites and resources that can help you build your understanding of various topics in Math.

Some of my favorite would be Wolfram Alpha, Stack Exchange, and Brilliant.

 

[Slap47]

I think its the way our brains are wired. Most humans are wired for abstract thinking, not the kind of linear thinking that math tends to demand. Its no accident people who are good at math are often very eccentric and socially awkward. The type of mind wired to do complex equations is fundamentally abnormal. Not in a bad way mind you, but in a general "humans as social creatures" sort of way. English is a subject more suited for baseline human cognition. As such its more popular.

of course, the very best Mathematicians are freaks capable of both linear and abstract thinking. They also tend to be very crazy in some or many ways.

It's not a coincidence that most western Jihadis have math/engineering degrees. They're smart but learn the Quran on their own instead of in a traditional moderate mosque that filters everything through culture.

 

[Antipathy]

Tbh some of this is good stuff to learn.

Being able to identify your audience and craft your work to be best understood/received by them is one of the requirements for being a successful writer of anything.

That was never taught to me directly, it just pissed me off that at random I would at first get good or bad grades, and then, only when I thought about cheating the system in the most absurd way possible, did I learn the valuable life lesson that pleasing authority figures gets you places. I'm sure there are people who never figured that shit out.

 

[The best and greatest]

That was never taught to me directly, it just pissed me off that at random I would at first get good or bad grades, and then, only when I thought about cheating the system in the most absurd way possible, did I learn the valuable life lesson that pleasing authority figures gets you places. I'm sure there are people who never figured that shit out.

It's not about "Pleasing authority figures" its about being able to consider who you're writing for, in any given situation. If you want your message to be heard you have to deliver it in a way where people will A: want to listen and B: comprehend your meaning.

All writers are whores my friend, whats even the point if people just shrug their shoulders and go "TLR!?"

 

[Antipathy]

It's not about "Pleasing authority figures" its about being able to consider who you're writing for, in any given situation. If you want your message to be heard you have to deliver it in a way where people will A: want to listen and B: comprehend your meaning.

All writers are whores my friend, whats even the point if people just shrug their shoulders and go "TLR!?"

I suck at reading audiences. Before I would say things that were way too controversial, now I feel like I'm playing it too safe in most places.

 

[General Tug Boat]

Mathematics such a diverse and interesting subject, I guess why I ended up hating it as a kid was because of the element of having more interest in being a kid opposed to memorizing theorems, along with not actually having any useful manner in which to apply said theorems. As an adult I ended up falling in love with it, mainly because of mathematics application in physics, but as well in technology. If the schools I attended had more of an focus towards the technology based applications, I probably would of ended up generally more interested, and hence ended up being a better student. I ended up actually getting my college textbook and I ended up going through the entire book on my own a few years ago while I was in between programs out of high school. This 900+ page textbook, I essentially taught myself up to differential equations from the basics. I just found that most teachers never emphasized enough on the concepts that are the most important and assumed you learned said instruction a previous year. I actually wanted to enroll in the Mathematics program at my local university, but because of my general slacker attitude; Along with, universities in Canada being generally cringe, I decided to just stick with the local community college.

English was always a subject that bothered me, just because generally the compulsory reading material is just uninteresting. Along with the fact that I write how I speak, hence a lot of in-formalities in my type set. In mathematics there is no such thing as winging it, you are either right, or you are wrong, and also there are actually ways of verifying the information. Also, the approach in solving a problem in mathematics is very diverse. I love seeing the way other people may solve a certain integral, or how a certain proof is solved, it just helps put more tools in the box in solving those type of problems. Another funny thing is how mathematical aptitude is applicable in all forms of life, opposed to aptitude in literature. Math literally changes the way your mind solves problems, because generally it challenges your viewpoint on things. Opposed to literature, that generally does not hold the same level of challenge.

 

[Sothis]

I've always hated both, since I don't do maths any more I've come to appreciate it a bit more.

With English, I've always had teachers that are bad at teaching, and a few of them graded me on whether they like me or agree with my viewpoints rather than on the quality of my work which had pretty much put me off English.

 

[AnOminous]

You can write what you THINK is correct, only to get a failing grade because you didn't give enough examples or some shit (which happened with at least half of my essays).

So just give enough examples. It doesn't matter if you make them up.

 

[FuckedUp]

So just give enough examples. It doesn't matter if you make them up.

Make them up? I constantly got points off for not perfectly representing the real examples I gave.

 

[AnOminous]

Make them up? I constantly got points off for not perfectly representing the real examples I gave.

"Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that, you've got it made."

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

Because English is typically easier if you know how to bullshit. Most questions that aren’t about rules or mechanics can answer themselves. That, and essays are easy enough to write if you have enough to work with.

This shit is so obvious during exams. Be straight up wrong, and you'll get a "Hmm, what about-". In math, it'd be "no". I think it's honestly just the nature of humanities and natural sciences. But at the same time, learning how to multiply gives a kid confidence and maybe even propel them into further math stuff. It's pretty much a metaphor for life. Fake, cuddly comfort or ups and downs with meaningful development.

 

[The Bovinian Derivative]

I think it's the way math is taught. There are teachers who force a certain way of solving problems and a lot of the time you have to keep information in your head that would better suited to be in a cheat sheet. We had to memorize all the Integration equivalencies for Numerical Analysis I but were given cheat sheets for II, so we promptly forgot everything and used the cheat sheets instead.

Also a lot of it, for a student, feels useless at the time so it builds resentment. When you learn English you're learning a language that most of people in the western world can speak, but you will not use combinatorics or differential equations that much. I hated vector math but now I am using it for my homebrew projects, but I never had to touch vector spaces or anything heavier.

 

[Atatata]

English is easier to bullshit, after the basics it doesn't really matter much about how you got anywhere, as long as whatever ends up on the page seems fairly reasonable. Just remember context clues, make sure it adheres to the basic structure of a report and you'll be fine. Honestly, I've written book reports using only the back cover summary. Most teachers don't give a fuck as long as you remember how to spell correctly and your comma usage isn't too obnoxious, many bin the reports without reading them anyway.

Now math, it doesn't matter if you get it right if the method you use is wrong, and every damn teacher has a different method they think is the standard. At the end it just makes it all the more convoluted, especially if you're a student that was barely getting settled in with the previous method. Personally I lost the plot a bit when they had us labeling properties instead of actual math.

Edit: video related

 

[DDBCAE CBAADCBE]

For me English was always easier because I could mostly sleep through class and still generally absorb everything that was said or just use context clues and common sense to fake my way through to the right answers. Meanwhile math on the other hand requires you to actually pay attention. It's a strict and joyless sort of work that demands your focus and will punish you fiercely for even a small slip up.