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Ask HN: How to apply Mathematics in life?

22 pointsby ghostpiratealmost 8 years ago

5 comments

beagle3almost 8 years ago
You apply mathematics all the time - when you watch a car, you estimate based on it&#x27;s position, first derivative (velocity) and 2nd derivative (acceleration) whether it is safe to cross the road. But you do that intuitively, and you&#x27;re probably asking about using math explicitly. In that case ....<p>Probability is useful in any setting that requires a decision, and can often be done in your head or back-of-the-envelope style. Requires that you be aware of bayes&#x27; rule (and base rate fallacy) to not lead you astray.<p>Logarithmic scales are often useful for things that behave that way - like stock and currency prices. It&#x27;s very rare to see a long term logarithmic graph of such values, although much of the information is only apparent on this scale.
kqr2almost 8 years ago
There are quite a few popular books on this topic, e.g. <i>How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking</i> :<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;smile.amazon.com&#x2F;How-Not-Be-Wrong-Mathematical&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0143127535" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;smile.amazon.com&#x2F;How-Not-Be-Wrong-Mathematical&#x2F;dp&#x2F;01...</a>
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williamsteinalmost 8 years ago
If you learn how to read and write proofs (formal mathematical arguments), you can apply what you&#x27;ve learned to thinking clearly, systematically and logically about various things. For example, clear rigorous disciplined deductive thinking is extremely helpful in writing, debugging and testing computer software.
fraseralmost 8 years ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pythagorean_theorem" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pythagorean_theorem</a> To figure out how long of a wire to to use when hanging a picture. It was actually a 5 ft wide mirror, so trickier than a normal wall picture.<p>Lots of geometry in woodworking, figuring out the sequence of cuts, and angle of cuts to get the desired result.
h1srfalmost 8 years ago
Am I missing something here? Addition? Subtraction?