The
New York Times put an article out on September 17, 2012 about a mathematician, Dr.
Mochizuki, who posted a 500 page paper on August 30. In this paper he claimed
to solve the abc conjecture. This is the use of letters that represent mathematical
variables in equations, where 3 integers share no common divisors other than 1.
This means they will be all primes numbers since even numbers are divisible by
2. I.e. a+b=c. This of course has many mathematicians
in an uproar of excitement and doubt. Some are saying that if it’s true it
would be a great break through while others are questioning it. Minhyong Kim, a
mathematician at the University of Oxford in England and the Pohang University
of Science and Technology in South Korea, said ““It would be a fantastic
breakthrough.” The ones questioning it
say, how can you agree with it if you can’t say what the ingredients are. It is said when someone first starts to read
it, it looks like something from outer space, interesting. But none the less it
should be taken into some seriousness because Dr. Mochizuki already has
significant numbers of proofs under his belt. It is said that it will take
months if not years to carefully review this new information and the information
already gained from previous years. This is a new language basically that has
to be carefully broke down and understood. How cool would it be if he did solve
it though? I have a hard time as it is understanding math but to know that
there is people out there that can actually break math down piece by piece and
make sense and proof of it, wow. It’s easy to understand that if you have one
apple and put it with another apple you get 2, but something of that complexity,
to actually be able to prove it, is out of this world. There will definitely be
a lot of people arguing this breakthrough and a lot going along with it, but to
say which side I’m on is hard. As I said
before math is hard for me as it is and to be asked to agree with someone who
claims to have proved a theory on math, forget it. But to also say I disagree
with it is a lie, because I don’t know it. I think I will leave the solving of
major math theories to the professionals and stick to my lectures and
textbooks. To go any further I think would make me go insane. Does anyone else
think they could try and understand proof to a major theory?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
To be a math phobic or not to be?
Is there such thing as having a math phobia? Yes! There are many people who when they see numbers start to panic and try to avoid it at all cost. I myself believes all math should be done with a calculator and avoiding. I work as a head cashier in my job and we have machine that counts the registers for us, the register tells us how much change to give, and I always have a calculator in my pocket for price adjustments. Anytime I have to figure out math with a piece of paper and writing utensil I blank. It can be the simplest math problem and I suddenly become dumbfounded. Why is it though that this happens to people all over the world? What causes this fear of numbers? How can someone overcome the phobia?
Well I did a search on the internet and came across a web site that gives explanations for most of these questions. The website is http://www.anxietyatoz.com/anxiety-types/math-anxiety.htm. According to them math phobia is created when someone is has a bad experience with my in the past. Such as a child in school who gets a question wrong and is embarrassed in front of other students. It can also come from teaching methods in which someone is taught. When a deadline is put on a student to learn way more than they are capable of they do poorly, causing them to think they can’t handle math and give up. When someone has a phobia to anything they always have symptoms. Someone who is math phobia may all of a sudden be confused, negative, have loss of memory and be hit with a sudden panic. They may also have physical symptoms as well such as sweating, increased heart rate, headache, and nausea. It kind of seems like being math phobic is a disease, but is it a curable disease or are people such like myself destined to be scared of math forever?
According to the website, there are ways to try and overcome math phobia. First, support is a BIG one. With teachers, family, or colleges there helping you through your phobia it can make it easier. It will help show you that it is ok to be afraid but that if you keep working at it you can overcome it. People can also practice more, practice makes perfect. Ask someone to show different techniques on how to approach a math problem and hopefully one will come more easy and you can finally understand. The one I feel is most important, is to believe in yourself. You can have anyone telling you, “you can do it”, but unless you actually believe in it you can’t. You will always hold yourself back, instead be the voice inside saying, “it’s just math, try your best and see what happens.” And for those who are really math phobic, go see a psychologist. They can help you get down into your inner self and resolve your conflict.
Well after all that, I am still math phobic. But I know I can only do the best I can and that’s good enough. I did a lot better on the first 2 quizzes then I thought I would, so that’s a step! For everyone else who is math phobic, good luck! We can overcome!
Well I did a search on the internet and came across a web site that gives explanations for most of these questions. The website is http://www.anxietyatoz.com/anxiety-types/math-anxiety.htm. According to them math phobia is created when someone is has a bad experience with my in the past. Such as a child in school who gets a question wrong and is embarrassed in front of other students. It can also come from teaching methods in which someone is taught. When a deadline is put on a student to learn way more than they are capable of they do poorly, causing them to think they can’t handle math and give up. When someone has a phobia to anything they always have symptoms. Someone who is math phobia may all of a sudden be confused, negative, have loss of memory and be hit with a sudden panic. They may also have physical symptoms as well such as sweating, increased heart rate, headache, and nausea. It kind of seems like being math phobic is a disease, but is it a curable disease or are people such like myself destined to be scared of math forever?
According to the website, there are ways to try and overcome math phobia. First, support is a BIG one. With teachers, family, or colleges there helping you through your phobia it can make it easier. It will help show you that it is ok to be afraid but that if you keep working at it you can overcome it. People can also practice more, practice makes perfect. Ask someone to show different techniques on how to approach a math problem and hopefully one will come more easy and you can finally understand. The one I feel is most important, is to believe in yourself. You can have anyone telling you, “you can do it”, but unless you actually believe in it you can’t. You will always hold yourself back, instead be the voice inside saying, “it’s just math, try your best and see what happens.” And for those who are really math phobic, go see a psychologist. They can help you get down into your inner self and resolve your conflict.
Well after all that, I am still math phobic. But I know I can only do the best I can and that’s good enough. I did a lot better on the first 2 quizzes then I thought I would, so that’s a step! For everyone else who is math phobic, good luck! We can overcome!
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