Comments on: How much math you will use in your job

By: Not First

Not First — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:59:03 +0000

Yay!

By: Frederic

Frederic — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:15:09 +0000

A Venn Diagram could have best represented this one.

By: Squee-chan

Squee-chan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:53:18 +0000

You’ve obviously been out of school for the past twenty years.

By: iblis

iblis — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:49:25 +0000

Eh, as a programmer I rarely do basic math – like long division, etc – the “hard” way, as that’s what the computer is for. However, understanding concepts like algebra, calculus, geometry et al is very important.

Luckily, I do *not* have to deal with statistics very often, though I know some people (such as those who’ve commented here) love the heck out of it.

But yes, as Mike mentioned, learning to learn (and staying in practice – by continuing to learn!) is probably your best bet no matter what field you’re in.

By: emb

emb — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:17:39 +0000

not math so much as geometry

By: Johann

Johann — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:15:24 +0000

Your math teachers are trying to prepare you in case you ever really do have to use major math in your job.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:12:59 +0000

There should be a fourth bar labeled “chance that the math you forget is the math you will need to know” 100%

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:53:46 +0000

Right! I tell my kids that you “learn how to learn” even when its a something you might never use later in life. You also learn your likes and dislikes and what abilities you have or don’t have.

“What did you learn in math this year?” “That I don’t want to work in a field that relies heavily on math.” (except not me… I liked math and use it all the time in my job.)

By: Champson

Champson — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:09:25 +0000

Amount you will need should be higher. Also, amount you will need plus amount you will forget REALLY needs to be greater than 100%.

By: Crouching Tiger

Crouching Tiger — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:29:40 +0000

ever want to have a job in business? science? computers? medicine?
who wrote this?

By: mc

mc — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:02:15 +0000

Yes but they can’t count usually. That is why when I order a #1 which consists of a sandwich (Big Mac) fries and a Coke they screw something up. It’s pretty simple math not mastered by the minimum wage teenager.

By: manda banda

manda banda — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:53:31 +0000

Actuarial Analyst (better known as “number gopher”). I stare at spreadsheets full of numbers needing calculations all day!

By: IPG

IPG — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:24:16 +0000

I absolutely agree. Sadly none of what you are mentioning was tought or even appreciated in the school I went to, so as far as I am concerned, the graph is pretty accurate, even if I work with numbers all of the time.

By: The L

The L — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:15:36 +0000

That’s beautiful. Plus, if they put forth the effort to do well in their worst subject, that shows perseverance, which is another valuable job skill.

By: The L

The L — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:14:07 +0000

How to count, yes. How to do algebra, no.

Hell, most cash registers make change for you–you don’t even have to know how to add and subtract!

By: sunset

sunset — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:50:52 +0000

Awesome post! Very true. Plus, a mathematician will never go unemployed. Why? In most cases it’s not because they know how to solve Partial Differential Equations but because they know how to attack a problem and not give up until they’ve solved it.

By: Mikey D

Mikey D — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:37:01 +0000

When I was studying mathematics we suffered no delusions that it would ever be applicable in real life. Unless we got taken through a Stargate and the ability to calculate the volume of a circular granary in hieroglyphs could save us all.
We also got taught how to do maths in cuneiform and how to optimise the arrangement of songs on a Madonna album.
To do the teachers and lecturers credit though, they never said it would be applicable, so I think this graph is wrong.

I’m out.

By: Miroku

Miroku — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:26:02 +0000

Its pretty true really. Most of the stuff they teach you, you will not need in the long run.

By: Retail Manager

Retail Manager — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:21:37 +0000

Although I hate math and used to think the way the graph states, I have to say it’s just not true. I was a mechanic for ten years, and even though I can’t do proofs I used trigonometry every time I did alignments. I have to constantly figure volume, area and conversions as a retail manager for auto parts. And it’s not just parts that requires it. I’m a History teacher too. (Yeah, I got two careers at the moment, neither teaching or retail can pay the bills alone!) I have to use algebra all the time to work out schedules for things (employee work schedules and student conferencing), and I have to use logic and flow charts for all sorts of stuff in every thing I do.

Yeah, I agree with hating math, but it’s far more necessary than we like to believe.

By: Employer

Employer — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:43:31 +0000

I try to recruit Americans, but this is why I end up hiring 70% foreigners on H1B visas – they treat math seriously

By: Alaina

Alaina — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:27:19 +0000

I use math a lot more than I thought I would and I’m a social worker.
Statistics suck donkey balls

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:17:04 +0000

The owner of a company I used to work for was interviewing a controller candidate -

Owner: How much is one plus one?

Interviewee: How much do you want it to be?

By: just me

just me — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:21:54 +0000

Like me! (I’m a biostatistician)

By: required

required — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:49:10 +0000

doesn’t the cashier at McD’s have to know numbers?

By: ClickClick

ClickClick — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:51:50 +0000

Singing it like you mean it, win for Chelle!

By: Chelle -- mathematician

Chelle -- mathematician — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:05:52 +0000

People suffer from the delusion that arithmetic/geometry/trig/calculus are the only representations of math. REAL math is used every day by millions of people, regardless of whether or not they know it.

‘Mathematics is the academic discipline, and its supporting body of knowledge, that involves the study of such concepts as quantity, structure, space and change. The mathematician Benjamin Peirce called it “the science that draws necessary conclusions”. Other practitioners of mathematics maintain that mathematics is the science of pattern, and that mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere. Mathematicians explore such concepts, aiming to formulate new conjectures and establish their truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions.’

By: john

john — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:15:50 +0000

Physics and Graphics programmers: Disregard this graph.

By: Compulsorry

Compulsorry — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:34:17 +0000

..and then you hope they can put one and one together.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:28:21 +0000

I will tell my kids that what they are learning in school may never pop up in their future careers, but that the ability to take in novel information, process it, and work with it is a valuable skill that any employer will look for.

By: manda banda

manda banda — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:25:54 +0000

Really not true if you work in a statistics/math field (duh)

By: The L

The L — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:57:29 +0000

Well, of course he does, he’s forgotten too much math to get a more interesting job!

By: Poop

Poop — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:54:25 +0000

This might be true if you work at McDonalds…..

By: BOO

BOO — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:53:20 +0000

WRONG

By: Novokaine

Novokaine — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:42:17 +0000

Indeed so not true.

By: sunset

sunset — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:39:09 +0000

So not true.

By: First

First — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:19:14 +0000

Yay!