5 Reasons Why Math Matters

Dear Reader,

Math is important. It really is.

Despite how you felt about algebra class or geometry class or even basic addition and subtraction, math is a life skill that applies to everyone, not just accountants and engineers. It is the language of many fields, some of which may surprise you. But math matters, in more ways than one. And while numbers and equations are a necessary evil to some and pure enjoyment to others, we need math to live.

Below are five reasons why math is worth knowing. Starting with…

Building Stuff: Balancing a cheque-book? Dividing rent among four roommates? Determining your share of the electric bill? How about taxes and student loans? Paying bills is the worst, no doubt about it. But you need to know some math in order to stay on top of your finances, balance your budget, and avoid all those overdrafts.

Cooking: Surprised? Baking cupcakes and roasting a chicken requires math skills. You need to measure the ingredients in terms of teaspoon, tablespoon, ounces, grams, kilograms, etc. And what if you what to cut a recipe in half? This is serious business. Unless you’re a pro at eyeballing the “this much salt” and “that much flour,” you need math in the kitchen.

Travel: Planning to jump the pond for a backpacking adventure? If so, better prepare yourself for currency confusion, especially if your currency converter is not a physical device. Knowledge of currency conversion is essential when traveling to a foreign country. Your iPhone may not be able to save you, but your math skills sure can.

Building Stuff: There will come a time when you need to assemble a desk, a shelving unit, or perhaps a crib. And you’ll thank your math teacher for helping you become the hero that you are once that desk sits proudly constructed by the window. Putting stuff together requires math aptitude in order to avoid a safety hazard.

Career Readiness: Are you thinking of becoming a nurse? How about a marketing manager or a lawyer? Nurses use math to calculate medication dosages, marketing managers use math to determine profit margin and pricing strategies, and lawyers use math to determine settlements and statistical evidence. Even sports agents and high school English teachers use math on a regular basis.

Think about it. Math really is everywhere. From the kitchen to the courtroom, numbers, graphs, and measurements are all around us. Knowing how to calculate a tip at a restaurant or your fantasy football score is important business! Mortgage payments, caloric intake, and retail discounts are a big part of our everyday lives. And we can’t always rely on our phones to do the work for us when it comes to math. Your brain is a much better, and more reliable tool.

Source: http://onlinemathdegrees.org/