Ask HN: Does learning mathematics give you some kind of superpower?
Often people say that learning math changed their lives. They started to see normal things in a different light.
Has it happened to you? Any books you would like to credit for that?
Has it happened to you? Any books you would like to credit for that?
Engineers (or those performing their role in casual contexts) use math all the time.
I was never “good at math” though geometry/trigonometry always made intuitive sense to me.
My enlightenment came very late in life, and not [exactly] from books (though I often look into books when the topic intrigues me.)
The “super power” of math comes by expanded awareness. Like walking around your whole life with eyes on the ground, and one day raising your gaze upward, even above the horizon to find there is a whole expansive space looming about you (this whole time!)
Curiosity might have you calculating how much the passengers in an elevator weigh (and how close to the maximum capacity which those wonderful engineers unfailingly print somewhere); how much load a trailer hitch can take; how much breathable air one might have if your compartment were submerged in water, how much does five gallons of water actually weigh, etc.
Not to sound cringe but … You have to work the noodle all the time if it is going to be effective when and where you will spontaneously need it!