Comments on: math: 63/365

By: cynthia

cynthia — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 13:04:37 +0000

About this season of Downton Abbey, Joe Heim writes: “Daisy decides to take a math course and then confides to Ms. Patmore that she was always rubbish at math. ‘All the best people are rubbish at numbers in school,’ says Ms. Patmore. Reassuringly, my wife confirms to me that this is true.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/01/04/downton-abbey-recap-change-is-in-the-air/

By: cynthia

cynthia — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 13:02:29 +0000

In reply to Claire Guyton. Wow, Claire, I don't even remember the imaginary i, nor the proofs in geometry...I never connected at all. Loved reading this comment.

By: writersideup

writersideup — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 19:18:52 +0000

In reply to cynthia. Wow, and I was just guessing! Thanks for the info :)

By: cynthia

cynthia — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 23:30:46 +0000

In reply to Lynne Gill. Lynne, ha, thanks for the heads up. I'm sure Donna will be happy to know this. And welcome to Catching Days. Hope to see you again.

By: Claire Guyton

Claire Guyton — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 22:59:58 +0000

I loved all the basic stuff and used to race the cashier when I went with my mom to the grocery store, adding up prices and then calculating tax. I liked algebra b/c it was so regular, and I liked geometry b/c of the proofs. Then I hit pre-calc and my whole body rejected the concept of the imaginary i. It was like a window dropped or a door slammed. It’s not that I couldn’t work whatever problem was at hand–I could b/c I could follow directions. But the imaginary i thing just wouldn’t settle. I kept poking at it and it would ripple at the touch, then solidify again, looking exactly the same, revealing nothing. And that was it. I never wanted to touch or think about a number again. And I’m still like that. When I’m shopping I’ll do quick math to know how much I’ve spent, when I’m adapting recipes or doubling or tripling them, I have to mess with all the fractions and how many teaspoons make a tablespoon, Ada yada. But if you start talking real math with me, my mind literally refuses to engage. Which is a shame, b/c I hear imaginary i is quite the character.

By: Lynne Gill

Lynne Gill — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 16:08:37 +0000

In reply to writersideup. Yes there is, it is called DYSCALCULUS and I was SO pleased when I discovered that! I always called myself numerically dyslexic!

By: writersideup

writersideup — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 21:09:01 +0000

In reply to cynthia.

lol…well, I sure didn’t ’cause I still don’t know what kind of math I was looking at back then! I got through Algebra and slept a lot during Geometry (regretfully ’cause it would’ve come in handy with all the measuring and calculating I’ve had to do for some artwork). School wasn’t my “thing” as a teenager : /

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:35:57 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth G. Marro.

Betsy, I don’t remember concepts or details. All I remember is something about x and y… and a plane flying in one direction and the bird in the other… And I did remember the name of my 8th grade math teacher–Ms. Wade. With numbers, I always check and recheck, but I’m not sure what good it does. I can do some of the harder stuff, but I just don’t have any kind of sense about it–nothing that raises a flag if the result I get makes no sense.

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:29:15 +0000

In reply to writersideup. Donna, I'm not sure I would recognize Calculus if I saw it...

By: Elizabeth G. Marro

Elizabeth G. Marro — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:24:23 +0000

Embarrassing but true: I lose track whenever I add simple numbers these days. The sight of them makes my mind skip ahead to other things. I had to take statistics twice in b-school and I remember all the concepts but none of the details when it comes to basic calculus. Concepts. That’s where I’m stronger. Details? When it involves numbers, not so much.