I Hate Mathematics

I said it. I hate the thing that you need, to get anywhere in this world. It seems that in almost every job on the planet, you'll need to know your maths. I for one, have never been good at maths. Never. I have absolutely no mental maths capacity in my brain. I can't really solve maths problems either, and the only thing that I'm good at in maths is alegbra and formulas. I can count money and I know my times tables etc. But overall I suck at this subject. Let's look at what could be the cause of this.

1. Genes
2. I'm just naturally not good
3. I don't bother trying hard to become good
4. I'm more creative than logical

Let me explain number one. My Mum was never any good at maths either. She didn't really get good marks in her maths exams, but she was far better at English, as am I. Now, I don't know if this has anything to do with genes or something that I've inherited, but it seems like a valid explanation to me. My Dad was pretty good at maths though, and I've inherited a lot of things from him, just not his ability in this particular subject.

Number two...Well I've often just thought, "That's it! I can't do this, I just naturally suck at maths and I always will!" And I'll tell you, I've said that alot! I think you can not have the ability to do something. Just like you can have the ability to naturally pick things up. I didn't grow to love English, I just always have. From the teachers comments over the years about my work, it seems I'm pretty good at it too. So, likewise, I can just as easily not be good at maths.

Number three, well this could indeed be the cause, but I think I've proved it to be wrong. Over the years I've tried so hard to do well, and I still am below the average and find it hard. A good mark to me, is when I've improved from my last mark. Two years ago, I got 40% in a maths exam, bad right? Then the following year I tried harder to do better and I got 67%. Bingo, improvement. I don't care how bad it may have seemed to other people, because at least I knew that I'd improved and made progress. My teacher was even happy for me. 67% was enough to get me into the top class though. I guess you could say that if you try hard at anyting in life, you'll get somewhere. It might be harder because you don't particualrly like the subject, but you can still suceed.

Number four is my best theory. The left side of the brain is more logical whereas the right side is more creative. It's obvious that my right side is stronger. Below are some pieces of information that were copied from the internet:

Left Brain

Logical
Sequential

Rational

Analytical

Objective

Looks at parts

Right side

Random

Intuitive

Holistic
Synthesizing

Subjective

Looks at wholes



How is the Right Brain / Left Brain Concept Relevant to Artists?

"When you start a painting, you need be able to to visualise the final painting in your mind (right brain, working from the whole), then develop the painting, chosing the elements, matching and mixing colours, placing in the shadows and highlights (right brain, working on various things simultaneously), but at the same time be able to look critically at what you've doing (left brain, being analytical). By finding out whether your thinking is dominated by your right or left brain, you can then deliberately set out to use the 'right brain' way of thinking in your painting or drawing, rather than working on 'auto-pilot'. By trying a different strategy you will probably be surprised by what different results you can produce."

Well, personally, I like the way I think. Being creative suits me fine. I'm not saying that being good at Maths is a bad thing, it's great!

*Yawn* I'm tired...