math and theatre people dont mix....

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:30pm

why is it that most theatre people are absolutely horrible at math?! All the theatre majors in our dept are either failing math, have tutors or struggle emensely. I think it's kind of funny. I hate hate hate hate math. ugh.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:34pm

Actually music itself is very mathematical.

Theater and English and what not uses one side of the brain, math uses the other.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:40pm

And it negates the whole premise for David Auburn's "Proof"...

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:41pm

Yeah, thats true....and i did not know that. But I'm talking about like geometry and algebra 2....wtf?!

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:44pm

I'd say that the set designer and the lighting designers would need to know geometry to do their jobs.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:48pm

I had quite a rude awakening when I got to college as a music major, and in my first music theory class, realized it was ALL math. I'd try to get a handle on math now while you can.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:50pm

*le sigh* It's a matter of education. I don't mean that theater people are uneducated, but they probably haven't had very engaging math classes in the past. I was actually pretty good at math but bored out of my mind by it until we hit calculus, and by then it was a bit late for me to really get into it. So I remain firmly a humanities girl who's a great believer in working hard on one's intellectual weaknesses as well as exploring what one is interested in.

As for the brain-side thing, it's a bit of a facile argument. Most people use both sides of their brains about equally, and leaning significantly towards one side is relatively rare. Maybe 1 in 10 people are very left or right-brained, and even they can be at least average in math if they're of average intelligence. I really think math education in the U.S. needs a huge makeover in order to engage people. Make it more about problem-solving than listening to lecture.
Updated On: 12/8/05 at 01:50 PM

[DBillyP]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:52pm

A related joke told to me by a British friend, which is important to know because it uses the word "twirlie," the British slang for dancer:

How do you confuse a twirlie?

Nine.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 1:57pm

Wow! What timing for this thread. I was crying so much yesterday after math class because I was so frustrated and didn't understand. I go to a tutor everyday but still often fail or do horrible on my tests.
I had to take college algebra over and I am hoping with all mighty hope that I will not have to take statistics over!!!

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:13pm

I'm terrible at math too, it was the subject that caused me the most stress in high school.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:17pm

See, and this is what gets me. Math is the most-hated subject by schoolchildren in America. Why is it that kids in other countries like math better? I refuse to believe, with Americans' varying ethnic backgrounds, that it's some kind of genetic tendency. That's just a copout- oh, they're just not suited for math, so why bother. The way we teach math needs to be improved.

[jeremykushnier1fan]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:17pm

This is true, i'm absoultly terrible at math.

[shameless]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:27pm

SweetQ, don't feel bad, I had to drop college algebra twice, Then I asked around and found a good professor, and signed up for his class at a time I knew wouldn't be too crowded. It made all the difference.

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:29pm

I was a theatre junkie in high school, was horrible at math as well. I just don't get it. My brain won't think logically like that. 12x -4(2x + Y)!!!! You might as well be writing in a different language.

Now... *smiles* give me a 12 page assignment on literally examining a novel and let me at it!

[ihearttheatre]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 2:47pm

I'm not bad at math..it just makes me think harder than any other subject- It doesn't help that I have the least engaging teacher on earth. I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up for Honors Algebra 2 as a freshman (High School). Oh, and imaginary numbers are stupid.

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:00pm

Apparently theater people also cannot spell "immensely".



I kid.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:25pm

To be perfectly honest, I hate math but it's a matter of lack of interest in the subject. I just don't see how calculus is ever, ever going to be important to me. I get annoyed with those people who say, "But you'll use math all the time in life!" Uh, sure. Algebra and elementary geometry maybe. I think that I can safely say that I will be avoiding all life situations in which I am forced to remember how to integrate x^3+4x+12.

I might be somewhat more interested in math if it were presented in some way other than just as a set of numbers. Applications of math to subjects like biology are interesting to me. I don't mind statistics. But if you give me numbers without context, it's impossible to care.

Anyway, I agree to some extent that it's a matter of poor education, and that it's sad that our nation as a whole is falling behind in math. I'm sure that part of the reason that I dislike math (other than the lack of context) is that I was never adequately taught how to do complex algebra, which makes everything that comes after that a challenge. If you give me a complex equation, particularly one with a numerator and a denominator, square root, etc., I can stare at it for hours and not figure out how to solve it.

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:26pm

hahaha yeah well i didnt say i was the best speller. maths always been hard for me. I took one semester of algebra 2 in summer school and the other half through BYU independent studies (with a tutor). All so i wouldnt have to take math my junior year. Its the best thing EVER.

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:49pm

I like math. It's my best subject.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:51pm

2+2=4

That's all the math I can do in my head...

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 3:57pm

My math skills are fine, though they wane with lack of use.

And I am MUCH more a theatre person than a Math person.

I think this "left-brained/right-brained" stuff is just a major copout, used by people who either don't like something, or aren't good at something...

[Aigoo]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 4:16pm

I don't think I'm a math WHIZ, but I'm fairly good at it. I'm just a quick learner. I'm fairly even-brained as well...ambi-brained? I believe, as Cat and I had discussed. I prefer the "artsy" side much more, however. But I'm not that creative I think...

[BluCat500]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 4:25pm

Goo is a super genius...I'm pretty sure she invented being a genius...as is my understanding of history

I, however, failed the lowest level math class my school offered...

I don't know, blaming it on poor education sounds like a good excuse to me, as long as I don't have to take the blame

Updated On: 12/8/05 at 04:25 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 4:32pm

Weird, Algebra was one of may favorite subjects growing up and I used to tutor it and Calculus for extra money in college. Plus I did well in Physics and Bio. But then I also loved theatre, English, History and Poli Sci ..... I guess I never favored one half of my brain over another -- it was all interesting to me.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 4:40pm

I graduate with a degree in Computer Science and English, and I know plenty of people who excel at both drama and numeric methods.