Current Events > Does any math above trigonometry have any everyday practical uses?

(+) Yeah! (+)

maybe even algebra , and above?

Everyday uses? No

Practical uses? Absolutely

Yes

Naysaspace posted...

Yes

how do they?

bump

Most people don't use more than basic math in their everyday lives. It's one of many things school (pre-university) spends more time than necessary on instead of useful life skills.

Dark_Arbron posted...

Most people don't use more than basic math in their everyday lives. It's one of many things school (pre-university) spends more time than necessary on instead of useful life skills.

yeah i agree. A lot of it in actual university , uses it too. Why do you they it though?

I was working in the financial sector for some time.

differentiate and integrate up to 2nd degree (and similar black math magic) was used for interest calculation (and other black banking magic).

For most people, all math is just derivatives of PEMDAS, which you learn in, like 4th grade.

Learning how to work through a problem towards a solution is always practical, even if your particular problem isn't math-related.

I've always wanted to calculate the area under a curve /s

Dark_Arbron posted...

Most people don't use more than basic math in their everyday lives. It's one of many things school (pre-university) spends more time than necessary on instead of useful life skills.

Many many careers depend on advanced math even if you don't have to do it yourself/it is automated. It's helpful to know how things work, as it can tell you when they might go wrong and what to do if they do.

Oh, and I think knowing about percentages and how to calculate some probabilities is also quite helpful in many situations.

Euripides posted...

Learning how to work through a problem towards a solution is always practical, even if your particular problem isn't math-related.

COVxy posted...

Many many careers depend on advanced math even if you don't have to do it yourself/it is automated. It's helpful to know how things work, as it can tell you when they might go wrong and what to do if they do.

That's more a case of general critical thinking and problem solving skills - which, by the way, I think school should have a class dedicated to.

Karovorak posted...

Oh, and I think knowing about percentages and how to calculate some probabilities is also quite helpful in many situations.

Yeah, neither of these I would consider to be above "basic math."

Every day use would just be critical thinking skills. We need more of it in society.

Dark_Arbron posted...

Yeah, neither of these I would consider to be above "basic math."

Looking how many people struggle with this, I'm not sure if it's really as basic as it should be.

bigblu89 posted...

For most people, all math is just derivatives of PEMDAS, which you learn in, like 4th grade.

what is pemdas?

Dark_Arbron posted...

That's more a case of general critical thinking and problem solving skills - which, by the way, I think school should have a class dedicated to.

Well, not really. For instance, lots of careers depend on either interpreting statistics or using statistics. While a lot of the actual math is often hidden, understanding the math helps you know when certain statistical inferences will be appropriate or very flawed.

CedarPointcp posted...

what is pemdas?

That acronym that tells you in with order you have to solve expressions.

So, the stuff that people fail, when they tell you that

1 + 5 x 2 = 12.

CedarPointcp posted...

what is pemdas?

It's a mnemonic for the order of operations in conventional math notation.

Dark_Arbron posted...

That's more a case of general critical thinking and problem solving skills - which, by the way, I think school should have a class dedicated to.

Nah, there are plenty of jobs that require specific math knowledge. And if you don't have it, you'll be unable to deliver. Live covxy is saying, statistics skills in particular are quite common and typically require more than just "general critical thinking" skills.

Math is important to learn, and no, stopping at basic algebra is not a good solution. Math refines the brain, and helps critical thinking.

"iMpOrTaNt" life skills is this parroted around thing that is among the least useful things I ever heard. Schools aren't parents, and back in the day, people referred to these skills as "writing a check" or "doing your taxes." Well, one of those is completely a worthless skill to learn outside of niche situations that you would forget anyways if school taught you, and doing your taxes is getting to the point where it's almost just a "put thing on W-2 in this box here" for most software services as I doubt most do it manually. Most people won't be earning income that would make doing taxes difficult, and if you are, you should be getting actual legal tax advice, and not going by what your school taught you about what could be an outdated tax code years ago.

It's such a dumb line, and I can't help but feel people who say this are eating out of the righties' propaganda.

Math isn't like those "skills" which become niche really over time. It continues to build on itself, and is one of the building blocks of higher critical thinking that we all should be striving for. I'm not saying you need to take Calculus, but math is more than just y = mx + b.