/sci/ - Science & Math

almost never, and when you do you'll just be able to look up how to do it since unless you are at the edge of mathematical knowledge (in which case you wouldn't be asking this question) someone else has most assuredly already answered it.

/truth

You may not use the specific concepts you're learning, but you will need problem-solving skills like you're practicing.

Also, http://xkcd.com/1050/

Never, because you're an idiot.

>>6619578
If you work at mcdonalds, some arithmetic should help.

If you aspire for something more than invertebrate-tier jobs, then maybe you will find that you might need something more, like probability and its use in statistical models for example.

I say that football players don't go out on the field, pick up heavy weights, and start doing squat to win a game. But they do that in the gym a lot before they play so they can win the game. Math is squats for your brain. People tend to get it when I say that.

Woodwork can make use of some 'advanced' geometry.

>>6619578
depends on your job, some geometry and basic calculations are ussually sufficient for 99,9 percent of people

90% of the time i use math is when someone asks me a math related question and i fuck it up because i start sweating and farting and turn into a nervous wreck because i cant see the math on paper.

being an engineer is great :)

>>6619578
I have asked this in the past.

>huehuehue brain skills

Half of the time I asked it because I was frustrated with math (not necessary confused, just tired with it), and it was a form of venting

The other half I generally wanted to know if there was an application for it IRL.

No one has ever asked me that.

rarely do I have to use math for work, besides simple + or - of solutions/drugs.

but I use math in my mundane cloths, shopping (lol murrica) I add up what I have in my buggy, and I know the tax for it, I sometimes have close to exact change ready before total is requested, I then hand monies over and say, "feels about right" while weighing with my hand.

>>6619660
Yeah, brain skills. And no duh people get frustrated. And no, you won't ever use advanced algebra or calculus unless you are in a real specialized position.

So what ever. Don't learn. Don't try hard at anything unless it gets you cash money or women. Only do what never frustrates or challenges you unless you get an external reward. That will totally pay off for you and the rest of society.

>>6619592
Took me five seconds to realize that you talked about a field as in grassy plane.

>>6619673

>strawman


Maybe my "brain skills" comment was a bit deceiving on my position.

I meant it was true, but that it wasn't necessarily an answer that I was particularly looking for, and it is just covering ass when it is used.

So stop being a pretentious cunt.

>>6619578

To predict the future.

For example, I applied a simple log regression to the fuel prices of the last 5 years to get the fuel prices for the next 5 years so I could figure out which car to buy - this one is slightly more fuel efficient, this one is slightly cheaper, is it cheaper ENOUGH to make up for the increased fuel prices?

I don't trust the projected fuel prices enough to purchase oil futures based on them (because obviously people in the commodities market are far more skilled at that sort of prediction than I am IF there is such a skill to learn) but it makes me more confident in my choice of car.

To find the true cost of a loan

Let's go back to the car! It's easy enough to listen to THIS salesman say they'll sell the car with a 5K down payment and 10% PA interest and this other one who wants 10K down but only charges 8% PA but which one is more expensive in the long run?

To make the electrons dance to my tune

This transistor-based power amplifier doesn't work by fucking magic, I had to sit down and do a hybrid-PI calculation for it on my own.

When using a calculator.
Seriously, none of the plebs who dropped middle school know how to apply a calculator even though saying "we don't need math, we have calculators."

Maybe you'd lije to those the power factor of your faulty lamp,

Or maybe you'd like to know how fast that file will download,

Or maybe you want to know how much you should get back in cash if you pawn that gold bracelet

Etc etc

>>6619680
Took me five seconds to realize you talked about grassy plane as place where grass grows.

>>6619660
Wait, I am illiterate.

>math

I have asked what the use of a specific function of math was, not math itself.

lel

>>6619578
"Most of this shit you'll really never need to use unless you go into a particularly math-heavy field. However, you need to learn this boring shit to understand the actually INTERESTING math, and you need that to be able to understand the secrets of the universe and shit. It really is very liberating to be able to understand the more advanced physical equations."

>>6619586

You mean in the miserable crushing existence you will call your life until the day you die? Never.

>>6619578

I think it's a bad argument, I don't use most of the shit I learned in school on a daily basis, but it was still worthwhile to know.

>>6619578

Most People probably do see the value in math, but it's so autistic and logical. You can only take so much before you snap. Most of my math classes are proof after proof after proof, it gets old.

>>6619578
I use math a lot in construction. We're usually out away from the jobsite trailer where all of the plans are and have to decide on what angle/ distance something needs to be at. It's usually some pretty simple/ mid-tier geometry

>>6619661
Where're you live?

>>6619578
Most will never used anything more than simple arithmetic. But if what is being said is more appropriately, "why do we study math if most will never use it", then my response is something like "well why do you lift?" It's all just mental exercise. Even though you may actually never have to compute a derivative or solve a quadratic equation, the neural connections formed to perform the task has improved your mental abilities.

>>6619578

When will you ever use anything you learn in school in real life? It seems like lots of people always complain about the application of math, but those same people just smile and nod when learning a topic like poetry.

The disconnect is one of what people want to express. Poetry can be thought of as a specialization of language to describe feelings. In the same way, each branch of math helps us describe a particular subject.

arithmatic describes quanity
You need it to talk about how much money you have through earnings and expenses.

geometry describes shape
You need it to talk about how to build your house.

algebra describes relationships
calculus describes change
statistics describes chance
and so on

Math is what allows us to express and explore these things accurately like poetry allows us to express feelings.

>>6619578
logical thinking is good

"give this man a pittance, for he must make gain for what he learns."

People always pull the "when am I ever going to need this?" or "maths is boring" because they are shit at it. Deep down everyone wants to be good at maths but they put up walls to protect themselves from the reality they lack the willpower or aptitude to learn it.

You don't say that though. Just say some fluff about how certain people need to know it for particular jobs.

When I told someone I'm studying math, they asked "why? We have calculators." I just said that everything that he considers requires the use of math either in its production or to function. He didn't understand so I just told him to get rid of all his worldly possessions and live in the woods, and said "that's where we'd be with math or science in general."

>>6622475

>"Why? We have calculators."

Who makes the calculator?

"I'm not doing maths because it's useful, I'm doing maths because it's beautiful." - My maths teacher
Btw, the odds for hou to use what you learnt are weak. The use of maths IRL is mostly improving the capacity of logical reasonment, quick reactions, etc...

With the Numb3rs intro

>>6619665
You're still using cash in this the year of our lard 2014?

>>6622497
I saw a numberphile video where the guy said something pretty true about math education. People are expected to know and appreciate the basic masterpieces of art. But people don't know the masterpieces of math! no wonder why they don't find beauty in it. He said math classes in school are as if one would learn to paint fences in art class.

You won't, but the people that do create and maintain the cool things you will be using.

>>6623113
>Most People probably do see the value in math, but it's so autistic and logical. You can only take so much before you snap. Most of my math classes are
See Loackhart's Lament

>>6623160
meant to reply to this >>6623113

>>6623130
>You won't
This is it. Saying "math is beautiful" and referring to pieces of technology is not answering the question.

>>6619578
I usually give Fourier Analysis as an example of a widely used mathematical technique. Obviously there are a wide range of people that use this on an everyday basis, from physicists to accountants.

Most people understand that accountants are useful, though they sometimes have to think twice about physicists.

>>6619650
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYqXlRQrBN4#t=1m27s

>>6623468
>>6619650

This was meant to link to 1:27 I fucked up.

>>6623468
Holy shit this is exactly what happens when someone asks me a simple math question.

>>6623468

>I can't do this without muh formula sheets!

>>6623468
>not using metric

he was asking for it

>>6623468
>engineers in charge of maths

It's a valid question. The majority of people do not use anything more than basic algebra in their daily lives. The time they spend learning higher math concepts can be spent learning other subjects with their school time, so it is not fair to just assume they should study it and that's that.

That said, if you happen to work in any sort of engineering or research; you will need those higher math concepts on a daily basis. If you approach many problems from the perspective of basic algebra, then you will actually end up spending more time trying to solve the same problem. Derivatives / integrals will save you ass-loads of work in physics.

I despise the attitude that people are stupid for asking why they're spending time on something. Not really on /sci/, my college was full of people that thought that way.

>>6623526
>The majority of people do not use anything more than basic algebra in their daily lives.

The majority of people only use arithmetic in theri dily lives, at most.

I don't study maths because it's handy knowing how embed a n-dimensional smooth manifold into the 2n-dimensional euclidian space, it won't help me with my shitty job (I fear I'll be too stupid to stay at the university and do research), it won't help me if my car has a problem. I study maths because it's rad.

When somebody watches old clint eastwood movies, nobody would ask them: "Hey, why watch those movies, they are so unrealistic, they are not going to help you in real life." Because someone asking that would look like a dork. Yet you can ask OPs question and make the one you asked look like a dork. Most of the time he'll find something, where you can apply graphing theory to optimize some boring everyday shit. But that's bullshit, you don't study (pure) maths and go like: Hey, if any even number would be the sum of two primes, boy, I'd use that for some practical purpose.

tl;dr: You do it cause it's rad.

>>6623521
Also the way he quoted the measurement with some bizzare fraction.

>THAT'S SIX AND EIGHTY THREE SEVEN HUNDERETHS AND FIFTY QUARTERS OF AN INCH, THAT IS

>>6619578
for step 2, ???

Ok, so like if someone tried to a dollat a day for eternity, then i, as a mathematician, will instantly see that he's trying to steal 50 cents from me.

>>6623560
>I fear I'll be too stupid to stay at the university and do research

>>6623577
Ah, 4chan joke stealing. how we love you.

Learning math ultimately promotes logical thinking, leading to the skills needed to solve complex quantitative problems. It's beautiful, and learning it will only make you a better, more rational person.

>>6623614
>Learning math will make you a better, more rational person

Like Kurt Gödel, who starved to death out of fear of being poisoned, or cantor who spend his later years insane, or Gauss, who would wait for others to arrive at his results and then publish them to make sure they knew he was able to prove them, but didn't deem them worthy of publishing. He also banished his son from europe to america, wich was quite harsh at that time.

>>6623650
correlation =/= causation

>>6619578
YOU won't, but I will.

>>6619578
Programming, graphic design, financial decisions, handling time/date information, cooking, crafting, ...