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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to not understand why some people thinks its funny/acceptable to not be able to do simple maths

140 replies

leandro · 01/03/2011 14:27

I was talking to a group of women at playgroup this morning and one was talking about wanting to get a part time job. I said look at shop work and she said she'd like to but that she doesn't do numbers and so couldn't do it. Another one said I don't do them either and she has to get her husband to do anything mathematically related.
I don't get it, if you said I can't read then people would be so why is it acceptable to be hopeless at arithmetic.

OP posts:

JaneS · 02/03/2011 13:56

Yes, cameron, there is - but what I'm getting at is that some of us would prefer to say casually 'oh, I'm no good at maths' with a smile, rather than to do the 'woe is me' routine.

I'd never do the 'my husband deals with sums' thing though!

I'm not sure how often you can tell if someone who says they're rubbish at maths is saying that because they're proud of being ignorant/think it sounds creative and feminine, and how often they're just putting a good spin on something that's really hard for them.

Honeybee79 · 02/03/2011 13:58

I think it's quite brave to admit that you aren't good at something.

If someone's maths is so bad that they can't work in a shop then they might well have a learning difficulty or longstanding confidence issues that need addressing.

Mrsdoasyouwouldbedoneby · 02/03/2011 14:29

Maths, or rather a page of numbers makes me go !!!!!!!!!!!!! My mind goes blank and it feels like my brain fizzes a little. I still passed my GCSE, and I 'CAN" do it... if I calm down a bit first!

My issue is that I can always remember being told to do some sums again because my lines weren't straight... but I had been told off for talking, and not allowed to utter another word, or leave my seat... so I was unable to ask for a ruler... :( I still remember that moment, it just flashes up in my head! I think I was made to feel like a you can't sort of person. I can, like I say, I need to stop panicking and I am fine. I can work out percentages etc in my head, I just need to calm down!!

I helped my friends tho (recently, as an adult), but saying, "just wrk with the numbers in a way YOU understand...". So when adding or multiplying bg numbers, break the task down. If you know that 3 x4 is 12, then 12 shared with 4 has to be 3 and so n... if working out 70x12 break it down into what you do know... if thats to go the long route and do lots of additions, then do it! Or say, ok, I know that multiplying a number by 10 adds a "0", so 70x 10 must be 700... now I need 2 lots of 70... so 70 and 70 is ermmmmmm ok... 7 add 7 is 14... add the zero back on... 140... and put that with the 700 and we have the answer (840)! yippeee...

SOOOO convoluted BUT the key issue is playing and messing around with numbers and feeling comfortable with this. I have HAD to do this because it is so hard otherwise... and as I say, my initial reaction is one of a rabbit looking into the headlights of a car.

Ormirian · 02/03/2011 14:35

"BUT the key issue is playing and messing around with numbers and feeling comfortable with this."

YES! Precisely. That is what being good at maths is IMO. Being comfortable with numbers and using them in a way that makes sense to you. My DD who is in yr7 now and in top set for maths used to struggle and cry over her hw - mainly because of her teachers's obessions with bloody method! There is only one way of doing this sum and it is by using X method! Why? She instinctively knew how to do it because she understood but because she liked to do things 'right' she tried to use the prescribed method but didn't really get it. So stupid! I can clearly remember getting worked up about the exact same thing in school but I am not quite happy with maths.

Ormirian · 02/03/2011 14:40

NOW not not

JaneS · 02/03/2011 14:41

I agree too. My mum tutors adults who have very low levels of numeracy and a lot of them struggle because their teachers at school had insisted they worked in one particular way that wasn't suited to them.

I had teachers who said maths was 'all about rules' and 'there's only a right way and a wrong way to do it'. It's the least helpful way to think!

Takeresponsibility · 02/03/2011 14:42

Our job involves communication and linguistics and we have people with degrees in many of the arts based subjects. We are changing our working pattern so we work a set number of hours a year rather that 5 shifts a week, it is reasonably straightforward, although it does involve a lot of percentages and decimals and I have discovered that many of the staff just can't understand it.

I have had to conduct many, many training sessions where I have explained the reasons for the sums in my own particular vernacular before linking that to the actual maths. People are grasping the figures now but I have to agree with many posters it isn't an inability to understand the maths thatis the problem but a fear of scary looking equations.

PoisoningPigeonsInThePark · 02/03/2011 14:52

I am good at maths but really poor at mental arithmetic - but fine with a pen and paper possibly related to my dyslexia and its impact on my short term memory.

Can seem a little unfair that people can proudly proclaim they are bad at maths but any hint at less than perfect spelling and your thick or lazy- but that's life .

What is really upsetting is my DD teacher telling a DC with an interest and aptitude for maths, noted by previous teacher, that maths is hard work and not fun. That' a real helpful attitude to give any child.

HattiFattner · 02/03/2011 15:01

im a whizz at algebra and my geometry is beyond awesome. I can even do trig. but ask me to add five and seven and my mind goes blank. Ask me to multiply 6x8 and I get coldsweats.

I established in college that there is a form of dyslexia that is related to simple mathematical calculation.

I would have gained 100% in one exam had I added 3 + 1 + 1 to make 5. I said it was 4.

TheEvilDead2 · 02/03/2011 15:25

I am genuinely shit at math. I've never been able no matter how hard I pushed myself to do even simple algebra. Adding and multiplying in my head is a joke and I don't even try.

I am pretty embarrassed about it though so would try and laugh about how I am rubbish to cover up up how bad it makes me feel. I'm lucky that I can do that and that it considered more "acceptable" than say not being able to read..

LeQueen · 02/03/2011 17:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TryingVeryHard · 02/03/2011 17:18

Well, speaking of confidence, I just come from a meeting with finance people (me working in marketing) where we talked numbers.
I did have to make some mental calculatios and come up with percentages and I (with this thread in mind) threw myself into it, got one wrong but mostly I managed quite well if I may say so myself.
I was a bit intimidated at the beginning but am feeling quite pleased right now.

slipperandpjsmum · 02/03/2011 19:30

YABU and mean.

Not everyone was fortunate enough to receive as good an education as you for a variety of reasons.

People's talents lie in lots of different areas. I hope some of these postings has made you reflect upon your initial judgement.

northerngirl41 · 02/03/2011 19:40

Coz we have calculators... I haven't yet found a device which reads for me!

TiggyD · 02/03/2011 21:22

It's not just maths. I've heard people be proud of not knowing about popular culture and how to put together IKEA furniture before. There are lots of thing I don't know but It's rather weird to take pride in it. Maybe it's because it's not 'cool' to be clever in this dumbed down world.

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