response to Math Illiteracy - August 22

First, I just think its unfair to generalize and say that "all U.S. citizens are not very savvy mathematically." However, everyone does lack some mathematical skills to a certain extent based on a variety of reasons, with the most obvious one being the amount of exposure that we have to math in our society. 

Often times we always prefer to take the "easiest" way out of a problem. With today's culture, we do not have to use or apply our mathematical skills as much as we would have if we lived in an age where answers to math problems would not be in our hands in a matter of seconds, whether we use a calculator, computer, or smartphone. We rely on technology so much that sometimes we forget that we have minds of our own, despite how harsh sounds. In reality, if one is asked to do a math problem with technology at their hands, simple as calculating the amount of gratuity you owe after eating a meal or complex like those problems found in quantum mechanics, then most people would probably choose to not do the problems by hand or in their head. There are many reasons for this, such as a lack of mathematical knowledge, a method to save time, or pure laziness. 

Another reason I think that we do not emphasize math is because a lot of people do not feel very passionate about the subject. Personally, math and science have not always been my favorite classes, and I find myself much more "eager" to complete assignments for classes I'm very enthusiastic about, such as English or art. This is not to say that I do not enjoy math, but merely a reflection about how I feel about different subjects as a whole. I think this could also be due to the way math is taught overall in educational systems. I do not really know how to explain this thought, but for instance, in other classes, we as students are much more interactive and engaged with "hands on" activities or group activities. I am not aware of what we can do in this regard for math, but I can say that I really enjoyed the "thinking outside of the box" exercises that we did on the first day of class - math should be taught in more creative ways which will let students explore aspects of math that they never knew they liked before.