"I'm Not Good At Math" Says Too Much

This post is written as part of the What IF? Project hosted right here on the Rivera Runs Through It Blog. Each week a new "What if?" question is presented, and, if we so choose, we respond to the query. (If you have a What IF? question you would like to submit as a possible future prompt, please do so in the Rivera Runs Through It Community What If discussion.) This week's "What if?" was

What if saying "I'm not good at Math" had the same stigma as "I can't read"?

The Reader versus The Mathematician

I can read. I love to read, in fact. Saying such things does not necessarily imply that I hold Ph. D. in literature, or that I am a master of all of the classics or that I can speak, with any type of authority, on the expanse of books in Bloom's Western Canon. I am a reader in its most basic function: for the purposes my own entertainment, edification and to get around in society. That is all that is meant by the statement, "I can read."

created by Susan Barker

I can also do math. Believe it or not, I also happen to love doing math! Personally, I have studied Mathematics professionally and while I do not hold a Ph.D. in this course of study, I do have a B.S. in Mathematics and have taken countless hours of graduate level Mathematics courses from various institutions of higher learning. I do not believe, however, that all of this is required for one to state simply, "I can do math."I believe, on the other hand, that one can say, "I can do math," if they have the same sort of relationship with the subject as I do with reading: basic functionality for the purposes of personal entertainment (yes, that is possible), edification and to get around in society.

What "I'm Not Good At Math" Really Means

When we say something like "I'm not good at Math," this is the same as making the ridiculous declaration, "I don't eat food," just because we don't eat one particular type of food (for example, I don't eat dairy - I can't - this does not, by any stretch of the imagination mean that I do not eat food!). When we go around saying "I'm not good at Math," because we struggled in Algebra or Trigonometry, or because we are confused by theorems put forth in Chaos Theory, we are making a similar unrepresentative statement. It is important to remember that "Math" is short for Mathematics - a plural word (this is why I love that outside of the US, it is shortened "Maths") representing many disciplines within!


What's the Big Deal If Everyone Says "I can't do Math"?

I believe that nearly all of the people who walk around this planet declaring to anyone who will listen, "I can't do math," are, in fact, quite mistaken! What saddens me is that I am not sure that they believe so. The ability to "do Math" has for so long been accredited solely to the Mathletes, Mathematicians and the elite group becoming casually known as "math people" that everyone else has started to believe that, without those types of academic successes they are devoid of all skill.

This, on its own would not be such a huge problem if the words spoken by Henry Ford did not ring so true:

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right." ~Henry Ford 

Once the seed has been planted, the idea will sprout. Millions of people are leaving their formal educations believing they can't do math, and, so, once free of their homework, they don't. They grab a smartphone to figure out a tip, they let an online service or a computer program balance their finances, they buy the ELECTRONIC BANKING EDITION OF MONOPOLY for the family (can I start an angry petition about this one?! Please, someone tell me it doesn't do ALL of the math for you!), the list goes on... The huge problem that comes from all of this is the fact that math is definitely a subject where you use it or lose it!

I Propose A Culture Shift

In order to save us all from losing our abilities to do Math and raising another generation that believes it's OK to say "I'm not good at Math" or "I can't do Math," I propose a simple challenge to those of you who truly believe you can't do math:

JUST DO IT!  

Not all of it. Remember, Mathematics is plural, find the piece you like. If fractions and decimals scare you or the thought of figuring out a percentage gives you the chills, I am not suggesting that you do anything that will cause you to seek the aid of a therapist. I am simply suggesting you s-t-r-e-t-c-h your expectations of yourself.

• If you typically use a calculator or a smartphone APP to figure out some mathematical calculation, then try to see if you can start to predict an estimate of what the answer will be before you use it.
• If you have children heading back to school who are taking Math classes, ask them to teach you something from that class that they feel comfortable with.
• If you are a seamstress, a quilter, a carpenter, contractor, electrician (oh boy! this list goes on...), recognize that you are DOING Math all of the time! (Probably even more than I am these days!!)
• The next time you get a phone bill, or a cable bill, or something else with a ton of number-y stuff on it - double-check their sums, just for kicks (maybe you'll catch them stealing from you!)
• If you're bored, do a Sudoku puzzle, a logic puzzle, or  play any one of these cool math games.

As you can see, there's lots of stuff you can do, but it shouldn't feel like homework. It should feel as natural as reading does when you pick up that menu in a restaurant, just find the math in your day, and recognize that you are doing it and that you are probably good at it.

If you really can't, if it confuses the heck out of you, if you're stumped, stymied and thinking about giving up - DON'T! Please feel free to come back here and ask me for help - believe it or not, I enjoy that kind of stuff! And if it's too advanced for me (that can totally happen), I'll find a resource we can both tap for furthering our math-y knowledge!

Do you consider yourself a "math person," a "non-math person" or neither? Why?

Did you like Mathematics in school? Why/why not?

Do you believe this challenge is possible for all people?