Comments on: How to Get People to Stop Saying ‘I Hate Math’

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 03:19:43 +0000

In reply to Bon. Wow you sounded just like a math teacher I think I heard a German accent.

By: Bon

Bon — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 22:38:20 +0000

In reply to Jim.

Maybe not. But you set your alarm clock. Which means you do the subtraction to figure out what time you have to wake up.

No, you might not understand “textbook math.” But if you really couldn’t understand ANY math, you’d be dead.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 02:51:58 +0000

You have no idea where I’m coming from I assure you. And that’s the problem. Some people can’t understand math. Math teachers say “oh I know it’s hard but you can do it if you try”. I’m an inventor , what if I said oh it’s easy Bon you can do it invent something. Likey Dad used to say jump in the waters just fine.

By: Bon

Bon — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 21:07:09 +0000

In reply to Jim.

I’m so SO sorry to hear that, Jim. That’s rough.

I do hope that if you have kids, your attitude can be recovered. However, I understand where you’re coming from.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and share.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 02:25:40 +0000

Math for me was pure torture. It’s easy to understand why people like me hate math, it’s because it is a useless waste of time forced onto children that know they will NEVER use it. Math teachers take a night mareish subject and somehow make it worse. That’s talent. I hate math and I resent the time I wasted in math class.

By: Bon

Bon — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 11:24:30 +0000

In reply to Robin.

Robin – I love that idea! Perhaps I’ll keep a pen and notepad handy and ask anyone who says negative things about math to write down “I love math” on my notebook.

Thanks bunches for the idea!

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 02:37:25 +0000

I am in my 19th year of teaching math & frustrated by people practically bragging about bring bad at math!

I teach my students that the brain believes whatever we say or write, so I encourage my students who don’t love/like/appreciate math to either write I love math on their papers or tell someone (usually me) ‘I love math”. After a few months, they realize that math is useful, fun, and sometimes something they do really love.

Positive brainwashing works!

By: Beti

Beti — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 01:01:35 +0000

In reply to James A. Ritchie.

When people tout freedom of speech, they sometimes forget that it doesn’t equal freedom from repercussions. James, if you see me working on math and feel the urge to tell me how much you hate math, I’ll probably feel the urge to respond in kind.

Just because you are ALLOWED to say something doesn’t mean you necessarily HAVE to. Expecting polite behavior isn’t the same thing as oppression.

By: Beti

Beti — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:19:34 +0000

In reply to Kay B.

You probably aren’t reading this, Kay, but I would ask you why so many people say to mathematicians “I hate math!” when they don’t do with with so many other hard subjects? When you tell people you are an artist (let’s say you are a painter) do people say “I hate art!” or “I hate painting! It’s so hard!”

I was working on calculus today and a co-worker said “that looks horrible!”. Gosh, thanks. She has a kid. I dislike children and think that raising children sounds horrible. But I would never say that to her because that would be pretty rude.

So maybe the perceived smugness is a reaction to so many people recoiling in horror when they find out someone is good at math, or, dare I say it, actually likes math.