In most countries of the world, there are two categories of people; those who enjoyed math and/or were good at it in school and those who did not. The second group represents a stunning 98% of the population. No other academic matter is so closely related to anxiety, confusion, or even hatred than mathematics.
No other subject is so much considered - by adults and kids alike - as something they are unable to do because they believe they lack an innate aptitude for it and that math is a talent that only some lucky people get at birth. But, basically, is this the fault of the subject itself or of how it is taught? What if the standard methods of teaching math were flawed? Would it be possible to teach it better by incorporating activities really enjoyable to learners of all ages?
In an essay titled "A Mathematician's Lament", Paul Lockhart, a mathematician who switched from teaching at top universities to inspiring grade-schoolers, declares that students who think and repeat that math classes are boring are wrong. It's really a big problem that, in many cultures, it's not understood that the true nature of mathematics is art. An art that should be taught and studied as any other form of art, with pleasure.
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Picture: Renaissance Mathematics, portrait of Luca Pacioli with a student (Wikimedia, w/Effects)
