Math, you son of a b….!

Math, as we know, is the foundation of many fields of science and technology. Math is there at physics, it is there at chemistry, at economics, at computer science and plenty of other things. I am a big fan of math. In fact, I adore math for its contribution in bettering our lives and for providing mental stimulation for those who are willing. Although I have my share of complaints about math.

First, when I was young in my naiveté I thought math was about numbers, like addition, multiplication and stuff like that. And fortunately, at that time, the math I was learning conformed to that. But as I progressed further I was disabused from my belief. Soon I was acquainted with problems like differentiate ‘4ex(1 + ln x)(sin x) + c‘ . Dude, it’s not math!! It’s just random symbols going through an imaginary process and coming out as something different, but equally useless.

Another complaint is math’s obsession with proofs. If a great mind like Einstein or a genius like Schrodinger says that, “Look, I have done my research and it looks like E=mc2 or ‘this ridiculously difficult differential equation with an infinite number of solutions’ is true.” My reply would be, “Great! I believe you, man”. But instead, he would say, “It looks like E=mc2 is true, and I AM GONNA PROVE THAT”. And I can only say that, “What I have ever done to you to treat me so mercilessly”.

schrodingerWaveEq

Schrödinger equation, ‘I am gonna prove this’

And yes, I would not be so upset if those proofs were honest, simple, ‘God-fearing’ proofs. But they are not, mathematical proofs are deceitful and sometimes even mean. A great example is ‘proof by contradiction’, I had a sudden realization of it when I was watching one of the videos on YouTube channel ‘Numberphile‘. In this convoluted and treacherous thing assumes that the statement we want to prove is false, then shows that we were wrong to assume that it was false; so it must be true. This kind of chicanery is nothing to be proud of and should be banned for the good of math.

I am writing this all for benefit of math and even more benefit millions of students who felt the wrath of this evil math every day. Beware, math if they will revolt it would be the bloodiest revolution ever.

Note: This post is meant to be funny, I do not seriously believe in the points made. There is no doubt that math has made our life infinitely better and proofs as well as the use of symbols to represent entities are an essential part of it and there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe if it weren’t for math I wouldn’t be typing this post as there would be no computer or the Internet either.