The Mathematics of Life

CEBU, Philippines - Those who do not appreciate math are those who do not understand what math is all about, says high school math teacher Mark Karadimos in his essay "Why Must I Learn Math?" As a mathematically challenged individual, I have time and again evaded instances that I had to go deep and serious about problem-solving, equations and formulations.

But it can never be denied: Mathematics is the language of the universe, so goes a Galilean thought. If you would want to pursue even tech-voc courses, deemed by an education institution as "the alternative" to a college diploma, a higher degree of Math proficiency is required. Take for example, carpentry or culinary arts - from as basic as measuring units to as complicated as converting them.

This reminds me of one store attendant who had a hard time dealing with me as a linoleum-buying customer. The store sells floor mat by yards and I told him I need a 10x12 feet for my room. He insisted that I purchase it at P29, a yard, not by feet, because he had a hard time calculating it at P29.55. We had to seek the wisdom of a mathematician in the house to help us with the conversion so I would be paying the exact bills. Arithmetic will always provide an exact solution, provided one starts with exact numbers.

This notion of the exactness of the technique is the very reason why my Math geek-schoolmates worship numbers. A four plus four is always eight and not even Newton can question that. Though there are instances that some results end up undefined, for example: the value of x is number divided by zero, one ends with a "cannot be" answer; or at times in analytic geometry and algebra, solutions end up with inequalities. In integral calculus, there are so-called approximate solutions.

Nevertheless, math rules!

During a recent leadership talk for the 7th Aboitiz Future Leaders Business Summit, I was enlightened that my failure to recognize math as an integral part of my pursuits is traced to this stubbornness to comprehend as to how math should direct me.

They say that when you have Courage, you have what all it takes to be good at anything because your willpower drives you. So here's how a proposed mathematical equation may prove Courage is not even everything!

Given that the letters of the English alphabet is equivalent to the cardinal numbers of the Hindu-Arabic Numeral System: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ = 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 - here's how Courage would fare:

C + O + U + R + A + G + E

3 + 15 + 21 + 18 + 1 + 7 + 5

Summing it up shows that Courage is just 70 percent.

How about LOVE, the strongest of all emotions - great motivator because "it can move mountains":

L+ O+ V+ E

12+ 15+ 22+ 5

Love does not embrace everything either; it's just a little over halfway with 54 percent.

What about PATIENCE?

P + A + T + I + E + N + C + E

16 + 1 + 20 + 9 + 5 + 14 + 3 + 5

Patience gets you closer to a passing grade at 73 percent.

Now, consider ATTITUDE.

A + T + T + I +T +U + D+ E

1 + 20+ 20 + 9 + 20 + 21 + 4 + 5

What does that give you?

Had I only got the right attitude, I could have given 100 percent of my focus on my maths. I could have done better in life!