S/O "Math is Hard"

[Deleted]

Have you ever heard a man say this? I had two female coworkers say this yesterday. But I don't think I have ever heard a man say it.

[wawa]

MH struggled with college calculus. (thanks to a seriously subpar pre-calc teacher in high school) And I had plenty of male friends in school who grumbled about assorted parts of our math course work.

But no, I can't think of a time I've ever heard a guy dismiss the entire field of math as being hard.

[smock]

Yeah, college calculus actually IS hard.

I wonder if this goes along with women thinking it's "cute" to not know things. A TIPer ran into a woman who giggled and said she couldn't read clocks; the guy nearby was like, "Awwww, cute!"

[Deleted]

I have, but primarily in law school. It's kind of a running joke in law school that everybody who chooses it does so because they're terrible at math.

[Deleted]

MH says it sometimes but in kind of a self-deprecating fashion - like if he makes a stupid adding mistake or something. He's a lawyer though. He is actually not good in math.

I actually don't think I have ever said "math is hard." I am not very good at it compared to my brother (math major in college) or my dad (EE), and it bores me, but "math" is a broad subject to say " it is hard." 2+2 = 4 is not hard in my opinion. Calculus is a bit more difficult. Ha.

[wawa]

Sept 20, 2012 8:40:15 GMT -5 @mrdobalina said:

My girlfriends and I say it in a very "meta" way after the Barbie doll that said "math is hard." So it might be like that!

I do this actually.

I kicked ass at calculus and other abstract math, but elementary school math - adding, subtracting, multiplication tables, etc sucked. I struggled with math through 4th grade or so, and I'm still not good at doing that stuff in my head. My line is usually, "Mathing is hard. I'm just an engineer, why would you expect me to do this?" for stuff like splitting the bill or figuring tip. I do actually practice it though, because getting stuck on arithmatic in public (like at work) is embarrassing as hell. So I do things like tally our grocery budget by hand as we shop or do multiplication tables in my head when I work out. Or play a lot of dominos.

[bigt1]

Multiple Variable Calculus is hard and can DIAF. There, I said "math" is hard ;-)

But I'd have to agree with the OP that it's not something you hear guys say

[StrawberryBlondie]

Sept 20, 2012 8:42:09 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

I have, but primarily in law school. It's kind of a running joke in law school that everybody who chooses it does so because they're terrible at math.

Yep.

At work not too long ago, I was mistakenly convinced that 1992 was 10 years ago. The joke made a re-appearance.

[Deleted]

We were joking yesterday at work that people go into HR because they aren't good at math

[Deleted]

Pete says it.

[copzgirl1171]

Copzson was flat out told he was "unteachable despite his obvious gifts" in math by a teacher

[pixy0stix]

Yes, but I was an English major. Actually, when I worked in the science field there was always some poor grad student muttering about statistics in a corner.

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 20, 2012 8:40:15 GMT -5 @mrdobalina said:

My girlfriends and I say it in a very "meta" way after the Barbie doll that said "math is hard." So it might be like that!

My favorite is "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl! Tee hee!"


I struggle with basic math, crap I learned in elementary. It doesn't come easy to me. Algebra, calc, trig, geometry I did really well in, probably b/c I got to use a calculator. I get the concepts, but I suck at the basics.

[Chirp]

One of my male co-workers is trying to get his bachelor's in Accounting. He's had 5 classes remaining until he can get his degree for the past 5 years. They're all math classes. He's failed Accounting 101 3 times. Apparently math is hard for him.

Otherwise, I work with a mathematician and 2 actuaries. They're all male.

[ttt]

Honestly, I think men are far less likely to say they're bad at anything or that anything is hard. Women are a lot more likely to admit weakness than men.

[ttt]

Sept 20, 2012 10:04:17 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 20, 2012 9:27:50 GMT -5 @septimus said:

We were joking yesterday at work that people go into HR because they aren't good at math

IME, people go into HR because they aren't good at people either. But maybe I'm still bitter.

(*)

[IIOY]

Sept 20, 2012 10:04:17 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 20, 2012 9:27:50 GMT -5 @septimus said:

We were joking yesterday at work that people go into HR because they aren't good at math

IME, people go into HR because they aren't good at people either. But maybe I'm still bitter.

I've worked with a lot of HR people and I don't think this is fair. However many companies don't take HR seriously and stick the "what do we do with this person because we don't have the heart to fire her" there to ride things out until she retires or finds a new job.

[cattledogkisses]

Not math, but during my time as a college TA I've heard a number of girls say, "Science is hard" or "I'm not good at science," and I think to myself, do you know how incredibly broad the realm of science is? And you're going to dismiss the entire thing in one statement?

[ESF]

Once, I was with my male coworker of Chinese descent, and he said "I'm an Asian that can't do math" while fishing around for his iPhone to do a simple addition problem.

That's about all I got.

[starlily]

Yes, mostly male attorneys & judges trying to calculate custody time and credits. It's all just basic operations for the most part, so I don't know why it's so confusing.

[doctorwho]

Yes. 6'5" Asian rocker hottie with hair down to his waist. Boy did not need math.::fans self::

[brookles]

Well, math IS hard. But then, so is using correct spelling and grammar.

Sept 20, 2012 10:04:17 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 20, 2012 9:27:50 GMT -5 @septimus said:

We were joking yesterday at work that people go into HR because they aren't good at math

IME, people go into HR because they aren't good at people either. But maybe I'm still bitter.

In all 5 of my professional jobs, the HR person has been a horrible communicator or a total idiot.

[msmerymac]

My husband's PhD is in mathematics, and a lot of people of both sexes are kind of impressed. Like, "Whoa, math?" Definitely not something everyone can do. (I'm often self-depricating about my grad degree in history, since really, anyone can do it. It's research and writing about history. Go find a few David McCullough books and BAM you know something about history. I definitely think math and science are very different in the amount a "lay person" knows or really can know, outside of a professional or experimental environment.)

But everyone in my husband's immediate family works in math/science in some way. Finance, math textbook editing, statistician, calculus teacher, marine biologist. I'm the odd one out. (I'm not bad at math, I'm just not interested in it.)

Sept 20, 2012 10:33:06 GMT -5 ESF said:

Once, I was with my male coworker of Chinese descent, and he said "I'm an Asian that can't do math" while fishing around for his iPhone to do a simple addition problem.

That's about all I got.

One of my (male) best friends in college would joke about that, too. He was a cultural anthropology major.

Although my husband, the statistician, also uses the tip calculator on his phone or asks me if it's "right." Like simple math confounds him because it's so simple.

[IIOY]

Sept 20, 2012 14:56:20 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Although my husband, the statistician, also uses the tip calculator on his phone or asks me if it's "right." Like simple math confounds him because it's so simple.

I'm no PhD., but my math skills are well above average and I struggle with the tip every single freaking time. Five minutes after I walk out of a restaurant or hair place, I will still be doing the math in my head to make sure that I tipped a full 20%. It's some sort of weird brain block.

And don't get me started on when I am sharing a bill with multiple parties and have to divide it up. OMG

[basilosaurus]

I don't think I have. But I grew up with an EE for a dad. And I made it through 3 semester of engineering paced calculus in college (not gracefully, I'll admit) before chucking engineering in favor of science. H only made it through 1 semester, and it was at the liberal arts pace

And my classmates in high school were the ones that made me look stupid. A handful of my female friends skipped pre-cacl in 10th grade and went straight to AP. So I was always surrounded by people who kind of loved math.

My poor sister. She's not one of them. My dork self would ask my dad to give me math problems if we were at a restaurant so I wouldn't be bored while waiting, and my sister would come to tears when my dad had her calculate the tip.

[Deleted]

Every day lol