Ask HN: Does learning mathematics give you some kind of superpower?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36196245

by optbuild • 3 years ago

5 5 3 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Often people say that learning math changed their lives. They started to see normal things in a different light.

Has it happened to you? Any books you would like to credit for that?

1970-01-01• 3 years ago

Knowing science and engineering is the superpower. Mathematics is their language.

kostarelo• 3 years ago

I can answer with an example, the famous book Algorithms to live by. It’s amazing how so many of everyday things can be explained with mathematics.

https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Brian-Christian/dp/1627790365

jstx1• 3 years ago

No? Or maybe because my math education was good, I've always had it? Either way I'm not impressed - math isn't special, you don't need to put it on a pedestal.

dangitnotagain2• 3 years ago

Only about as special as literacy.

dangitnotagain2• 3 years ago

Yes, armed with an epiphany of “what is math, truly” (proportions of things, not numbers of things) I can produce casual estimates which are “reasonable.” Whether regarding structures, or collections of things, or intuitive understanding of levers/gears, ratios/transitional steps, base conversions, and so on.

Engineers (or those performing their role in casual contexts) use math all the time.

I was never “good at math” though geometry/trigonometry always made intuitive sense to me.

My enlightenment came very late in life, and not [exactly] from books (though I often look into books when the topic intrigues me.)

The “super power” of math comes by expanded awareness. Like walking around your whole life with eyes on the ground, and one day raising your gaze upward, even above the horizon to find there is a whole expansive space looming about you (this whole time!)

Curiosity might have you calculating how much the passengers in an elevator weigh (and how close to the maximum capacity which those wonderful engineers unfailingly print somewhere); how much load a trailer hitch can take; how much breathable air one might have if your compartment were submerged in water, how much does five gallons of water actually weigh, etc.

Not to sound cringe but … You have to work the noodle all the time if it is going to be effective when and where you will spontaneously need it!

Ask HN: Does learning mathematics give you some kind of superpower?

Related Stories