In the article “The Myth of ‘I’m Bad at Math” by Miles Kimball, Noah Smith, and Quartz, there is a quote that thoroughly resonated with me: “The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career. Worse, you may be helping to perpetuate a pernicious myth that is harming underprivileged children: the myth of inborn genetic math ability.” I don’t know what anybody else feels about the following quote but here’s what I feel: I actually feel the “math anxiety” phenomenon is actually more of a myth than a reality in the universal sense. Heck… the “math anxiety”, in my opinion, is nonetheless a pitiful excuse because we humans perpetuate this non-sensical phenomenon as an excuse for our own flaws and the lack of practical expertise in all branches of mathematics. And one more thing before I forget, we humans tend to reinforce this myth on one another, instilling irrational fear and uncertainty in certain people. Personally, I strongly disagree with the claim arguing that such innate math ability originates from the mother’s womb. I hate to say it, but this claim sounds too far-fetched and fictional (in my opinion); with that being said, I am only hearing “Real-Life Superheroes” vibes. But hey… I may be wrong and who the heck knows, what if the whole “genetic math ability” claim is actually a real deal? It may be a remote possibility; however, it doesn’t mean this claim is confirmed to be true because it has yet to be proven. Nevertheless, I still disagree with the claim and I would never understand the genetic deposition lying in mathematics. A few years ago, there was one article I stumbled upon on “Curiosity” about mathematics and from what I recalled, the title of the article was titled “You’re Not Bad At Math, You’re Lazy”. This article opened a new perspective for me and I couldn’t agree more, I was never terrible at math and instead, I was deliberately lazy after all. This article made me abandoned the “math anxiety” nonsense (despite having never known until now this human phenomenon actually exists and I have no doubt I had had math anxieties before although I don’t remember them that well specifically) and it changed how I saw mathematics, looking at it to a new light: math is a broadly complex language in which I have never thought of it previously. Of course, I acknowledged that math is never simple to begin with given how complicated, time-consuming, and stressful it can be to everybody and myself too. To be proficient in mathematics, it takes unquantifiable amounts of time for people to invest (depending on the person’s pace) and master to identify strengths and weaknesses in all branches of mathematics. Finally, I argue that inheriting vast mathematical knowledge is the direct product of tedious hard-working investment, not a genetic trait.
About
Course: MAT 1575 Calculus II
Section: OL33
Professor Kate Poirier
kpoirier (at) citytech.cuny.edu
Sharing
Logged-in faculty members can clone this course. Learn More!
Search This Course
Recent Comments
WeBWorK
This class uses WeBWorK, an online homework system. Login information will be sent to your City Tech email address at the beginning of the semester.
Need Help with MAT 1575?
The Mathematics Department’s MAT 1575 Course Hub has many resources for both students and faculty, including online lessons, review information, and more.
The WeBWorK Q&A site is a place to ask and answer questions about your homework problems. HINT: To ask a question, start by logging in to your WeBWorK section, then click “Ask for Help” after any problem.
Member Portfolios
Find Library Materials
Library Information
Ursula C. Schwerin Library
New York City College of Technology, C.U.N.Y
300 Jay Street, Library Building - 4th Floor
Header image
Creative Commons image courtesy of Flickr user Elite Pete
Site design
MAT 1575 model course designed by Jonas Reitz
Categories
- Announcements
- Assignment Instructions
- Assignment Posts
- Bad at math
- Examples
- Gracie
- Group Posts
- Individual posts
- Introduce yourself
- Learning Dedications
- Practice exam
- Resources
- Student Work
- Test #1 Review
- Test #1 Solutions
- Test #2 review practice
- Test #2 Solutions
- Uncategorized
- Week 1 group post
- Week 10 group post
- Week 11 group post
- Week 11 individual post
- Week 12 group post
- Week 12 individual post
- Week 14 group post: practice exam
- Week 15 group post
- Week 2 group post
- Week 4 group post
- Week 5 group post
- Week 7 group post
- Week 9 group post: two wrong, one right
- Weekly checklists
Acknowledgments
This course is based on the following course(s):
- MAT1375 by Jonas Reitz
- MAT1475 by Jonas Reitz
- MAT1575 by Jonas Reitz
Leave a Reply