Who maths help?

“Since you know maths, how has it helped your life?”

“It helps with critical thinking abilities in different life situations “

“Ok, if you’re cornered by 3 fast moving cars with each aiming to hit you, what would you do?”

“Ehmm…I would wait for the last second and jump on one of them”

Silence….

This was the conversation that played out between me and an acquaintance that happened to be a foot soldier of Anti-Mathematics. In his bid to prove to me that the knowledge of mathematics has no importance in day to day life, he put to me a quiz in form of a situation which he considered inescapable.

Few years back, I was explaining algebra to someone. After solving various examples, I gave her a very basic problem, certain that it will be solved in a flash, instead, she stared at the question as if she had been blinded by lightning. I quietly wore my slippers and told her "I am coming". Real Nigerians know it actually means “I am going”.

Is it the ones that solve a question and end up with 5/7 as an answer while others are getting -2?. Or those that cry when they get 0 after submitting an empty paper? Like sis, what did you expect? One of them even went for a test and was like: I am sure I answered 3c correctly of all the questions and I’m not even very sure. What! Makes me want to laugh like anime villains.

So I am in this state of a self inflicted dilemma; is it phobia or inherent inability that gives rise to Anti- maths soldiers? Some say it’s due to functioning parts of the brain, others say it’s psychological. Either ways, i sympathize with maths teachers; becoming the object of memes because some people refuse to understand your subject willingly or unwillingly.

I remember vividly, sitting between my mother’s restraining laps as she taught me division she’ll teach and give examples. Failure to solve them led to knocks. The rain of knocks must have stimulated my brain and made whatever part is responsible for maths start functioning.

We once had a Maths presentation in school. Our group of 12 started arguing when everyone insisted they won’t be the leader talk less of presenting. A member then suggested we use a paper picking method; We had 11 papers with “member” written on each and 1 paper with “leader” written on it. Guess who picked the leader? The suggester. She went into hysterics and absolutely refused to present🤣.

Whether you like maths or not, what I’m sure of is; the logic and confidence required to tackle a maths problem prepares one for the approach to life’s many problems.