Pi is exactly three
Listen master can I ask you a question?
Is it the fingers or the brain that you are teaching a lesson?
Well I can't tell you how proud I am
I'm writing down things that I dont understand
Black Maths, The White Stripes
When I was growing up, Mathematics always felt like a foreign language. I had only a very basic grasp of it and in Nakasero Primary School ("We work for progress") this was an offense usually punishable by a few strokes of the cane. The Compass freaked me out, I thought the protractor was a little stupid and Algebra was all gibberish. There was hardly a maths equation I wouldn't fuck up if given half a chance. Somehow I got by but it was always a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants operation. I passed but I wasn't sure how. That's why I completely understand why Jack White wrote that song- is it the brain or is it the fingers that you're teaching a lesson? Good question.
However despite my distaste for maths, I was very aware of its presence. You had to be if you didn't want Mr Matsiko on your case- and trust me, nobody did. Maths was a problem and it was a very real one.
So you can only imagine my amusement (well, you can't really but sod it) when I read an interesting quote from Lawrence Mulindwa the president of FUFA-Uganda's football association. In all the excitement about Uganda's potential qualification for the Cup of Nations (and yes I am jealous that Rwanda is now officially shit at football)the calculators are coming out and people are doing some frantic calculations. Mulindwa doesn't think this is necessary "Uganda only need a 1-0 win" He sniffed glaring at anyone who so much as raised their eyebrows at him "I don't know where people get their calculations from"
Now maybe I'm a bit excitable, but it sounded suspiciously like Mulindwa was abolishing Maths as a concept. Where do you think people got their calculations from sir? I'll tell you- they added up stuff! Points, goals...it's all in the Maths. Presumably while scolding people for their reliance on Maths in this case, he forgot that he still needed to do some elementary calculations of his own to decided that Uganda needed a 1-0 win. It's not often you get a chuckle from the Sports pages of The New Vision.
Still I wish I had thought of that while sitting in class back in the nineties and the teacher asked me one of those questions that required an answer in Numbers. "Sir, I don't know where you derive your calculations from.." Sorted- I'd have wiped out Maths for at least a second or two. I'd have got my black ass whipped though. Teachers never need a witty come-back- they've got sticks instead.
Is it the fingers or the brain that you are teaching a lesson?
Well I can't tell you how proud I am
I'm writing down things that I dont understand
Black Maths, The White Stripes
When I was growing up, Mathematics always felt like a foreign language. I had only a very basic grasp of it and in Nakasero Primary School ("We work for progress") this was an offense usually punishable by a few strokes of the cane. The Compass freaked me out, I thought the protractor was a little stupid and Algebra was all gibberish. There was hardly a maths equation I wouldn't fuck up if given half a chance. Somehow I got by but it was always a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants operation. I passed but I wasn't sure how. That's why I completely understand why Jack White wrote that song- is it the brain or is it the fingers that you're teaching a lesson? Good question.
However despite my distaste for maths, I was very aware of its presence. You had to be if you didn't want Mr Matsiko on your case- and trust me, nobody did. Maths was a problem and it was a very real one.
So you can only imagine my amusement (well, you can't really but sod it) when I read an interesting quote from Lawrence Mulindwa the president of FUFA-Uganda's football association. In all the excitement about Uganda's potential qualification for the Cup of Nations (and yes I am jealous that Rwanda is now officially shit at football)the calculators are coming out and people are doing some frantic calculations. Mulindwa doesn't think this is necessary "Uganda only need a 1-0 win" He sniffed glaring at anyone who so much as raised their eyebrows at him "I don't know where people get their calculations from"
Now maybe I'm a bit excitable, but it sounded suspiciously like Mulindwa was abolishing Maths as a concept. Where do you think people got their calculations from sir? I'll tell you- they added up stuff! Points, goals...it's all in the Maths. Presumably while scolding people for their reliance on Maths in this case, he forgot that he still needed to do some elementary calculations of his own to decided that Uganda needed a 1-0 win. It's not often you get a chuckle from the Sports pages of The New Vision.
Still I wish I had thought of that while sitting in class back in the nineties and the teacher asked me one of those questions that required an answer in Numbers. "Sir, I don't know where you derive your calculations from.." Sorted- I'd have wiped out Maths for at least a second or two. I'd have got my black ass whipped though. Teachers never need a witty come-back- they've got sticks instead.
posted by Minzo at 6:34 AM
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