Supermath

April 16, 2020

Guess you now know the answer to the Big Question, don't you.

It's the question you asked your 9th-grade Algebra teacher, the same question your kids have been asking you since they brought home their first math worksheet. Why should I care about this? When will I ever use this stuff?

Mathematics has never mattered so much to so many people; even non-scientists now understand that it's literally a matter of life and death. If you paid attention in Algebra—or, at least, if you're paying attention now—you can understand what curves like the one on the right mean, and why they matter to you, to your family, to your short-future health while stuck inside, and to your long-term future heath when we're all out and about again. You can explain to your kids what it means to them and their future even if they're still in early elementary school. Miss Roth (or whoever your Algebra teacher was) would be proud.

The real heroes, of course, are the ones who are using this math to save us. They're the virologists, the nurses, the epidemiologists, the emergency- and primary-care physicians, the researchers. They're also the supply-chain managers, the farmers, the economists, the small business owners who are projecting strategies to keep their employees on the payroll through this emergency. These heroes all know that math is not some mysterious force wielded by a few brilliant people; it's a tool we can all use, given focus and some work.

Math is our fundamental means to getting a grip on the truth of what is happening now and what is to come. So over the next few weeks, as your kids' education waxes and wanes and falls apart and comes back together, keep finding ways to remind them that numbers are their friends... even if that means skipping the worksheets to find math that feels relevant and interesting, like baking cookies or counting your rolls of toilet paper or learning more about how to flatten the curve. If they need a little extra motivation to keep up the momentum, you might make them a cape: After all, math is a superpower, and those who use it for good are heroes.