LogFAQs > #876909188

1.) Because you should understand what is going on so you can interpret the results. What good is a numerical answer if you don't know what it means. Also, suppose you want to, for whatever context you are in, vary some of the inputs to achieve some different result. You need to know the underlying concepts in order to understand what needs to be adjusted, and why the system behaves how it does.

2.) Studying mathematics is not so much about "will I use this in my daily life", it is about learning about the study of patterns, which is a common thread throughout education in the social sciences, language and the hard sciences as well. Mathematics is yet another way to study patterns and logical systems, which are useful skills in interacting with the world and understanding how things work. The mathematical content we study is just one way of doing that. You don't need to remember all the dates in that old history book of yours, but instead understand how the path of the world has led to the circumstances that have let to our current state of affairs in the world. There is importance in things other than "when am I going to use this isolated fact / equation in life"

Source: A mathematics education doctorate student and teacher educator