Today as most days, I heard those words that I hear so often as a math teacher, “What are we ever going to use this for?” And I usually give the truth, that in fact that are some of you who will use this in your lives, but that most of you will never use this material again after this course. Now another truth is that if you do understand concepts of mathematics fully, you can have a better understanding of science, business, money, and the world around them, but sadly most will not attempt to explore mathematical concepts further. I have come to accept this truth, even though it does not make me happy.
But mathematics is a large part of even more important skills, those of logical thinking and problem solving. These are the most important skills in the 21st century marketplace. These skills drive innovation and invention and are skills every person should aspire to have. In most jobs that require a college degree, you will be put in situations where you will be presented with a problem and you will have to draw on prior knowledge, and think outside the box to create possible, reasonable, and intelligent solutions.
It should be a goal of everyone to think more logically. It can help you in making just about every decision you encounter each and every day. A fairly new branch of mathematics, called game theory, has been analyzing data to apply to decisions in business, economics, war, politics, and everyday life. It is amazing how many situations can be approached with a mathematical and logical approach. So while you may never need to know how to multiply matrices again, there is a good chance the skills you used to multiply those matrices can be drawn upon later in life.
