A Note On Learning Mathematics For Real

Above all, you need a long-term reason to learn,

if you are not involved in a particular field, then you will learn nothing.

It is easy to make excuses for seemingly learning math,

"You won't always have a calculator on hand" or "By memorizing the multiplication table you'll be able to calculate faster".

That makes perfect sense, but that is not math,

that's just calculations, adding numbers, double-checking the change you get from a cashier.

The simple reasons for math, have little to do with math,

and always having a cool mini calculator on you, is pretty damn cool.

But TI-83, is not as cool as it looks on the surface,

for one it is overpriced, perhaps 10 times the price.

Supply and demand shouldn't apply to students,

everything used in education from textbooks to laptops must be free.

So cooler than the TI-83, is a calculator you program yourself,

preferably by means of a high level programming language, maybe even a Raspberry PI Zero.

And of course, you see where this is going,

by considering to program your own calculator you are teleported on the edge of the Great Canyon of Mathematics.

Now, every cool damn thing from Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Engineering,

to Generative Art, Antikythera Mechanism, Even Kryptos-analysis-tools and Black Hole and Big Crunch stand right in front of you

Softly mocking you,

for not being cool, yet.

Sure, what is a TI-83 inspired Raspberry PI to you,

when you are never going to use the engineering formulas you gather.

It is almost a fair point,

but although we covered the reason for mathematics, we have not yet covered the reason for your reason.

Though it maybe hard to believe,

it is not enough to just own the coolest calculator in the world.

You aren't supposed to pursue things for their own sake,

every reason must have a reason.

So you celebrate the day you set your foot in High School or College,

by launching your first start-up.

Call it, Fair Instruments Incorporated, Model T-800,

and just sell a Calculator Kit based on Raspberry PI Zero, to be assembled by the customer.

This is also something that requires that you get investors,

keep the company small, don't work hard, work smart, your goal should be to become a great being, not a mere business person.

So now, not only are you plowing through math to build your first prototype,

but you are doing it to become a business person and exit poverty, you will certainly exit the stress of poverty.

As a bonus you could offer a distributed social network (by wirelessly connecting all the nearby Raspberry PI Zero W/s),

and other projects like Collaborative Audio Book Recording, or a Synthesizer Cluster for a Collaborative School Symphony Orchestra.

You could run a Beowulf Cluster,

or build a distributed search engine, the sky is not even the limit,

Perhaps that should be your starting point,

a Sky Net connecting all the schools together, and rebuilding education inside out by providing relevant and personalized lectures,

You see the importance of using High Level Programming Languages,

and a Standard Open Operating System... there are more lessons to be had.

By going beyond a calculator, you leave the reality of simple mathematics,

and enter the world of Programming, Communications, Robotics, Distributed Networking.

Perhaps eventually, you may even design your own PI/s,

maybe this time with an Open 5G Hat, Aural (as in Audio) Interface, and a phone network meshing all the schools together with free internet and voice.

You don't have to start big with your prototype,

The PO-128 is a good lesson to learn from, their entire product line is a dream.

But use Linux, and High Level Programming Languages,

do not limit yourself with with a micro-controller stick with general purpose operating systems that people can learn valuable lessons from.

If you want to start learning math right now,

create a start-up that generates generative art.

There is always a need for interesting video backgrounds,

and you can keep the company simple by just giving most of them them away.

This is also the realm of computer games,

think: auto-playing computer games.

And the on ramp is not that complex, see Snap SVG and P5,

and see if maybe you are more interested in 3D graphics, via three.js.

In closing, you can't real things really well if you have no real use for them,

whatever you study must be part of your existence, your life.

And mathematics can easily become part of your life,

if you take to a future of computer graphics, algorithms or even electronic devices.

A word of caution, those who are making you memorize so that you perform on tests like an actor,

do not have your best interests in mind.

Build your future

- accept the responsibility for your own education.