{"id":557,"date":"2014-02-05T11:22:56","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T17:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/?p=557"},"modified":"2014-02-06T10:18:27","modified_gmt":"2014-02-06T16:18:27","slug":"how-to-get-your-friend-to-like-math-a-multipronged-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/2014\/02\/05\/how-to-get-your-friend-to-like-math-a-multipronged-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"How to get your friend to like math: A multipronged approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Math with Bad Drawings<\/a>, the author Ben Orlin calls the query in my title the most adorable ever, and I have to agree.\u00a0 Now math is so awesome that it\u2019s hard to believe that we actually have to develop any sort of strategy to entice our otherwise amazing friends (who don\u2019t seem interested) to enjoy it.\u00a0 Post-school, when it is no longer compulsory, we really do have a better chance at changing perceptions. So let’s think of some ways of luring friends ever closer to your world.<\/p>\n

Introduce them to the concept of mathematical taste.\u00a0 In other words, if you don\u2019t like a certain genre of music, and that’s the only one that your music teacher ever played, then of course you would dislike \u201cmusic\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s never too late to develop a taste for mathematics, a hunger even, as described by Caroline Herschel in this poem<\/a>, who at 31 started learning math from her brother only to become an astronomer.<\/p>\n

Have them read Mandy Brown\u2019s post on the pastry box<\/a>, a forum in which 30 people who do interesting tech-related activities blog about themselves.\u00a0 Mandy thought she would always be a language person, and not a math person\u2026 until she ended up majoring in physics!<\/p>\n

Show them some amazing videos from George Hart at the Simon\u2019s Foundation Site.\u00a0 His most recent, posted just a few days ago is about Permutahedrons and C<\/a>hange Ringing (<\/a>ringing church bells in beautiful patterns)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Force them to do something like make a Mo<\/span>bius band and cut it in half (always a conversation starter and crown pleaser).\u00a0 Maybe if they are having fun, they\u2019ll want to explore some recreational mathematics.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a brand new Recreational Mathematics Magazine.<\/a><\/p>\n

Point out that it’s free! \u00a0One last thing that has always attracted me to mathematics from a philosophical point of view is its egalitarian nature.\u00a0 In a world filled with expensive hobbies that require lots of equipment, travel, or expensive training, one can pick up a pencil (or a box of brightly colored pens if you prefer) and give math a try for free!<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Math with Bad Drawings, the author Ben Orlin calls the query in my title the most adorable ever, and I have to agree.\u00a0 Now math is so awesome that it\u2019s hard to believe that we actually have to develop … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,9],"tags":[152,149,151,150,153],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-math-education","category-mathematics-and-the-arts","category-recreational-mathematics","tag-fun-math","tag-how-to-get-your-friends-to-like-math","tag-i-hate-math","tag-i-like-math","tag-improving-public-perception-of-math"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3tW3N-8Z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":566,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions\/566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}