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Proficiency in mathematics
Proficiency in mathematics
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Replies: 73
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Indeed there was , it was most noticeably seen in the incredible explosion of musical talent in Britain , and of course the US in rock music
suddenly ordinary everyday young people discovered they could write beautiful songs , how startling it must have been to Jagger and Richards and many others to discover this |
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a lot of people on this thread misunderstanding what maths actually is .
Maths isn't being able to work mentally with numbers ,percentages etc ...that's mental arithmetic , and a lot of maths teachers aren't that great at M/A ,probably deliberately as they see it as beneath them  ...in the same way that a Dentist would pass off some jobs to his hygenist/assist etc and likewise, a maths teacher will use a calculator every time .Those (including myself ,who are extremely good with MA /percentages /mental calculations with ratios etc were very average at school Maths in the later years ...i got a very poor grade O level and only got in the O level sets becacause of number based tests at 11 ...i must've been bottom of that class for sure ...however , in the mental tests or SATS equivalent , i came near top every time . My boy is into academic maths and takes the mick out of me as i don't fully understand calculus ,but he doesn't do mental arithemental ...he humourously refers to it as 'stage 1 maths' |
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Key stage 1 *
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I think schools should make a point of making sure every person can do 'simple' maths to a high standard ,it's simply practice ,practice ,practice ....it comes in so useful
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being able to remember times tables has been useful in life, i'm sure i'd get by without it
but certainly saves a bit of time, now and again. fractions as well...were great fun, and is handy for working out acca returns, decimal calculations tend to need the calculator... |
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Decimalization was funny. I was nine at the time, and for about a fortnight my mother had to wait until school was finished, on account of me being needed to explain what everything cost.
"Thirteen and a half pee?! What's that, for gawd's sake?" "About two and sevenpence halfpenny." "How much?! That used to be half a crown in real money!" Which only goes to show what I've always said: a system based on divisions into two, three and four, and on dozens, is more practical, logical and easier to understand. I blame the bloody French. |
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You can definitely have a natural flair for numbers. I know I did growing up. The thing is, as it's normal to you, at the time you think everyone else sees it (or should see it) the same. But having a brain dominated by the need for logic can serve as an affliction too, especially in later life!
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90% down to pushy parents... 100% natural ability would be a given... (to explain the Asian kid) imo...
Also if youre not naturally proficient at Maths, you have no business here... imo. |
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Two different things, work ethic initially comes from the culture. Not just from parents but from peers as well. Not all kids walk into the first proper maths classroom with equal ability, that's a given. There may be a genetic influence, but not race per se, imo.
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Apparently Jews have this genetic influence... Look at Rachel Riley..
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here is a good one for you all,if a guy backs six 1/2 shots with you at level stakes(same amount each time) he has to get 5 winners to show a profit.now thats gambling proficiency if you are the layer.
CHARGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE   |
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You HAVE to have the learning capability to begin with as my mother says 'you can't put something there that isn't'.
There is a good US documentary on Eugenics that I watched a while ago which explains the hows and whys on a persons' genetic abilty to learn in the first place and the other factors for learning fall into line behind this one. |
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ooohhh... You had to take it that step too far....
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Digression: I read a book about growing up in the East End in the 1920s and 30s. There was a Jewish population there and they couldn't do any form of work on Saturdays. Nothing at all. Local boys used to go to their homes on a Saturday and set up their fire for them. They'd be paid, but the money was already laid out on the table as the Jews couldn't even touch money on the Sabbath.
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My first property was a flat in an almost total jewish ultra orthodox block of flats. Indeed they had to translate for me at leaseholders meetings. The woman upstairs often came down for us to open a letter etc on Saturdays. Although I think it was that she was smitten by my boyfriend at the time. I always used to feel sorry for her as she was only young but already had children and had to wear a wig outside her home. It was probably an arranged marriage.
One strange thing though was that the kray twins had a flat at some time in the block. There is a famous picture of them standing outside. I have often wondered what the hasidic jews made of him! As regards to maths proficiency, I had an A grade in my maths O level and I have an A level in Pure Maths and an A level in Applied Maths so not only boys are good at maths  It seems that lot of us are good at maths and gamble as well. Maybe people don't gamble because they don't understand odds and figures? |
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weren't the Krays jewish?
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It seems that lot of us are good at maths and gamble as well. Maybe people don't gamble because they don't understand odds and figures?
Good point think there's something in it understanding chance relative to potential financial gain in any given circumstance. |
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The Krays had Jewish heritage.
Annie - there were plenty of girls in my O and A level maths classes but I'm talking about the stand-out whiz kids. |
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Interesting that people are talking about getting A Grades at O Level. When I did mine they were graded 1 to 6. So shows the age of some of us.
I firmly found my level at Maths at Uni year 2. I was always confident up until then but really struggled to keep up (I was doing Applied Science but the classes were mixed with Maths undergraduates). Solving differential equations was ok but formulating them was a black art to me. I ditched any further Maths modules after year 2. Anybody with a degree in Maths I respect. |
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Most of what I have read about them say they were of jewish heritage, but I do not remember reading anything saying they were practising jews.
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No, I don't think they followed the religion but Ronnie Kray talked about being very proud of his Jewish heritage in a newspaper interview.
Anybody with a degree in Maths I respect. Same here. |
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They caused the crash with their stupid theories , they were gambling with the wrong dice
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I think ability in Maths could be attributed to genes (from parents/grandparents) and environment (background/profession) eg the Chinese and Persian students were extremely good some even gifted as their parents/ancestors despite lacking in education were business people or trader/merchants.
At college I can still remember the occasions where a couple of Chinese pupils from Hong Kong who helped a senior A-Level teacher to solve complicated questions in Further Maths. And, at Uni a Persian (Iranian now) student was excellent at both Pure and Further Maths; the Asians ie South Asians are good with numbers, but not always Maths eg they could do Times Tables easily and remember numbers, but solving tricky Maths questions could still be a challenge; they are also good with spelling which is more of a memory thing, I believe. If one understands numbers and given knowledge of formulae one can solve any equation, but not merely remembering and memorising numbers. |
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The banks and the insurance companies and investment companies in Wall Street and London started to hire guys with phds in maths , in engineering computer science running programs for risk management
But what happens in real life has little connection with what happens in an exam , that’s the problem and that’s why they fked up |
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Their minds are closed
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There is a difference between being able to think and being able to compute
That’s why we had the banking crash |
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The Boeing max crash ? all the technical software , they could compute
But they couldn’t think ...disaster |
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In my late 40s I decided to study maths . I had forgotten anything learnt in school on the subject . After 20 years of teaching myself I stopped , for , like Charlie above , I knew I wasn't going to get any further . No amount of hard work will get you to an advanced level if you lack the necessary intelligence . I am sure I could have passed exams at A level and above but I really didn't feel the subject at that level .
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As for the crash that was easy to see coming , all you needed was a little common sense but even after I explained it to people they refused to believe that the banks were insecure .
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What did you study dunlaying? I did this course (among other OU courses) in my late 30's .http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/details/m248?orig=q36&setAcc=true Quiz to check potential students can cope with the course .http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/Courses/media/Courses/Qualification/Infographics/M248_self-assessed-quiz.pdf
I found that when I returned to some study as an adult it wasn't hard to learn the material, but it was hard to remember it. |
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The brain is divided into two half's.
left side of brain control's right side of body and vice versa. numbers are controlled in an area called front -parietal -cortex. this piece of brain runs from the top of the head to just above the ear. small numbers are processed in the right side while big numbers are processed in the left. now depending how you view numbers as big or small ,you will be using different sides of the brain. so if you have a large bet  its the left side you use,if you have a small bet its the right side you use.so there is a lot to be said for thinking big,thats if the left side of the brain is best at selecting winners. |
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2+2 =5
only a few of us get this |
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