Let''s stop hating Math

[Froge]

I am not into university yet, but so far (high school Calculus) I don't have any particular problem with the language of Mathematics (symbols, etc). Well I do understand that this will be different (easier or more difficult) for some people, but I think it's a matter of practice. The same applies to music. Why is music different? The "language" used to express the notes is really confusing if you haven't practiced it enough.

At the high school I went to, I had trouble with calculus when I first learned it, and that's because there are so many abstractions hidden in its language. Here's an example:

I remember a test question where I was given a velocity function v(t) and I was asked to "show the acceleration is constant." The mathematical solution was very simple: find the derivative of the velocity function and prove that the derivative is constant. But for a calculus beginner, they'd have to wrap their mind around the following abstractions:

1. The derivative of velocity is acceleration.
2. When a function is equal to a constant, it is a straight line.
3. A straight line neither increases nor decreases. It is "constant."
4. Thus, if acceleration is a constant function, then it neither increases nor decreases.
5. Therefore, we just need to show acceleration is a constant function.

Trivial as the above might seem, a mathematics beginner's brain has to warp through the above "logical implications" in order to get the answer, and that takes a lot of effort and thinking.

In other words, people may avoid mathematics because they aren't familiar with all the implications hidden within the language.