When Am I Ever Gonna Use This? The Truth About Math Class

When will you ever have to know the quadratic formula? What does a parabola have to do with your career ambitions? How will knowing how to solve for x help you at any point in your future? Drilling proofs and formulas hardly seems like an applicable skill, and in a world with infinite knowledge at your fingertips—not to mention calculators—it can be hard not to zone out during math class.

But what if I told you there’s much more to math than rote memorization? That the skills you’re developing in math class are actually some of the most essential and valuable skills out there? And math isn’t only fiscally valuable, it’s the key to understanding life on a deeper level! Mathematics uncovers the patterns of the world around us, and applying math in the professional world leads to global change.

Math might be disguised as “boring” with a heavy textbook and out-of-touch world problems, but don’t let that fool you. Math is the language of the world, and you need it more than any other subject. Here’s why.

The patterns of math don’t only exist in the classroom. They permeate all of human history and the natural world, and learning how to uncover these patterns will give you a greater understanding of literally everything. Take the Fibonacci Sequence, for example. This pattern (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.) plays a major role in the shape of our world and how we perceive it. Flower petals, snail shells, and even DNA all take on a spiral pattern that follow Fibonacci’s golden ratio. We see symmetry and balance in these things, which translates into artistic techniques used in photography and painting!

Are you listening to music right now? Guess what? That’s math. The rhythm of the beat, the pitch of the notes, and even the way sound waves travel to your ear are all founded in mathematical principles. Musical scales are actually based entirely on mathematical discoveries by Pythagoras—the same mathematician who came up with everybody’s favorite theorem. Even when we speak, our brains are interpreting the mathematical patterns of language. The sentence, “I about am math writing,” breaks the basic English sentence equation, Subject + Verb + Object, so it makes no sense. It’s akin to saying 2 + 2 = 9. It’s just wrong.

Whether you realize it or not, you are interpreting mathematical patterns and principles at all times. With this in mind, math class becomes more than a2 + b2 = c2. It becomes a way to see life in a different way. 

Unless you’ve taken the time to print this article and hand it to somebody, odds are you’re reading it on a computer screen or on your smart phone. The Internet, computers, and practically every piece of technology we use today owe their inventions to math (including your printer).

Throughout history, it’s been mathematicians who’ve been working behind the scenes to construct the world we live in. Take Alan Turing, for instance. This British math whiz used mathematics to crack the German Enigma code during World War II, which played a major role in helping the Allies win the war. His work saved thousands of lives and even led to the first working computers (a concept originally thought of by mathematician Charles Babbage). Without math, you wouldn’t be reading this. Without math, you’d be looking at cave drawings.

And math goes far beyond computer science. Katherine Johnson used geometric patterns and equations to put humans on the moon for the first time in the 1960s. Emmy Noether altered the way we perceive reality by perfecting Einstein’s theory of relativity. The list goes on. Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, the previously mentioned Pythagoras; almost all great changes in the way we see and understand the world—from economics to physics to art—are based in math. 

With math holding such great power, it’s no wonder it’s considered such a valuable asset! In fact, math is a primary skill required in all fifteen of the highest-paying college majors, according to Forbes. Careers in engineering, computer science, and the natural sciences all lean heavily on math, and applied mathematics and mathematics even came in tenth and eleventh as top-paying majors.

The workforce of the 21st Century pays for highly skilled workers in the fields of technology and science, and time and time again, being adept with mathematical concepts has proven to be the most valuable skill a person can have. Keep this in mind next time you find yourself looking at the clock in calculus. Because when it comes to finding a lucrative job, math is the common denominator. 

Okay. So you don’t want to be a scientist, an engineer, an accountant, or a doctor. You’re going to be a pitcher in the MLB. No math there, right? Wrong.

The bases are loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and you’ve been called in to close. It’s a full count; the score is 4-4. You and the batter are both left-handed, and you know this particular player doesn’t do well with inside sliders, but he still got a solid piece of your last pitch. Should you try for the slider again? Or throw him off with a curveball? It’s harder to hit, but the odds are higher the umpire will call it a ball, ending the game. There’s a right answer. But you’ll need a firm grasp of statistics to know what to do. 

Sports are only one of the “fun” careers that involve a high level of math. Photographers, painters, and other artists all have to be familiar with angles and proportions in order to compose their art. Sculptors even need a basic grasp of physics, a science based entirely in math. Architects practically live and breathe geometry, and writers need to know how to form arguments and follow a logical flow—another skill inherent in mathematical teaching. And at high levels, computer animators even need to be adept in basic calculus to navigate the software they use.

Many careers might seem like they have no mathematical basis, but nothing could be farther from the truth. A solid understand of math will benefit your professional life no matter what, setting you apart from the competition. 

You might hate math because you feel it restricts your creativity. English, history, art, and science all leave some room for interpretation. But not math. In math, there’s usually only one answer that checks the green box. And the only thing that matters is finding that solution.

Well, actually, that’s only part true.

Math is the art of turning abstracts into absolutes. And it’s hard. Getting the right answer might not come naturally or easily to you, but does that mean you should shy away from the challenge? I don’t think so, and you shouldn’t either.

Productive struggle is what ST Math—an interactive math program funded by the MIND Research Institute—calls the process of challenging yourself in the face of difficult problems to come to a correct answer. That equation in front of you might look daunting, and you might have to search for a long time to find that missing variable, but in the process you’re learning valuable lessons about patience, endurance, and critical thinking. Math is about much more than numbers. It’s a template for logic, creativity, and finding new approaches. And even if you didn’t get the right answer, you learned something. And today, when knowledge and right answers are only a click away, the learning process is actually more important to develop than the end product.

Think of math as a workout. Only instead of flexing your muscles, you’re flexing your mind. It’s tough, but immersing yourself in math problems builds valuable skills that translate into all aspects of life. Ask any potential employer. Creative problem-solving, following and verbalizing logical approaches, and the ability to retrace your steps to find a mistake are great personality traits, no matter what you plan to do.

By now, I’m hoping you have a firm grasp on why math is important and how it can benefit you. But what if you’re just bad at math? Are you going to be left behind? Well, you might actually be judging yourself too harshly! The truth is, there are no “math people,” and you have just as much potential as everyone else. Even the doctors and engineers. And that’s not just my opinion—it’s science.

According to this KQED article, neuroscientists have actually discovered that our brain has the capacity to grow and shrink. When students perform math problems, certain synapses fire away, creating an opportunity for growth. When we continue to practice math, these pathways for knowledge become larger, which makes our brains bigger! This happens even when we make mistakes; again, struggle makes our brains stronger. And the best part: it works the same for practically everyone.

Jo Boaler, the founder of YouCubed, is a pioneer when it comes to math instruction and debunking the myth that some people are born mathematicians while others aren’t. By adjusting how math is visualized and taught, Boaler has helped students who aren’t “math people” seriously improve their math skills. And, with proper instruction, neuroscientists have found our brains can actually rewire themselves to become more adjusted to mathematical problem solving approaches! It’s all a matter of practice and perspective.

So what does this mean? It means you’re much better at math than you think. At least, you could be. There’s a strong connection between how you think about your math skills and how they manifest themselves. The same KQED article details how when students (or their teachers) believe they’re bad at math, they perform poorly. According to Boaler, “More kids have a fixed mindset about math than anything else.”

This probably explains why, according to the 2015 results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the United States placed 38th out of 71 countries when it came to math performance. That doesn’t bode well for American math students, but long-standing rumors about math skills are starting to topple, and poor performance might actually be the result of poor curriculums and preconceived doubts than student faults. 

You have a mind capable of solving even the most complicated equations and finding the most radical solutions to any number of problems. You just have to keep developing your math skills. If you don’t, you’ll be okay. But your understanding of the world around you—and of your own capacity for knowledge—will be entirely cut short. So I encourage you to throw all your preconceived notions about math to the wind and double down in your efforts. If you do, you’ll have the chance to follow in the footsteps of the world’s great minds, and you’ll be amazed at what you discover.

Right now, you’re doing math. In ten minutes, you’ll be doing math. When your school years are long behind you and you’re settled into a career, you’ll be using math. Why not be good at it? 

Eric M. Earle is the founder of Tutor Portland. He used to struggle with mathematics himself, but studied math intensely in his early 20’s and became the premier math tutor in Portland, Oregon. He focuses on improving students’ math grades to better their college acceptance rates.