

It’s The Age of Big Data: That’s Why Math Counts - tokenadult
http://www.creativitypost.com/education/its_the_age_of_big_data_thats_why_math_counts

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Jach
Alternatively we just need more people not trained in formal math who also
happen to be geniuses: [http://jeffjonas.typepad.com/jeff_jonas/2011/04/data-
beats-m...](http://jeffjonas.typepad.com/jeff_jonas/2011/04/data-beats-
math.html)

Seriously, Jonas demolishes the "'deep analytical expertise' is simply
extremely high mathematical ability" interpretation. It's about creating the
right algorithms, which sometimes involves math and sometimes doesn't (I like
the insertion sort because it's intuitively how humans sort things--it could
have been discovered by a middle schooler). It's not about being able to do
hardcore math and liking it.

This is the first time I've heard of MathCounts though, was this really just
blogospam for that program with this site just plucking Big Data Analytics out
of the spectrum of possible link-bait subjects? Are the kids there doing
hardcore math that other math competitions do? (The video never really focused
on a particular problem.)

Edit: here's a link to their handbook. <http://mathcounts.org/handbook>
Doesn't look very fun to me.

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elangoc
When I was in middle school (MathCounts' age range), math came naturally to
me, and I was a competitive kid. For that reason, Mathcounts was fun for me,
and it helped that I consistently did well. If you've never been to a math
competition, it's an interesting environment. It's one of the few places that
I thought you could gain respect for "academic prowess". Imagine that, in
America!

I think that the act of creating a space for an alternative way of thinking /
being is a powerful one, and MathCounts does create that for math. I wonder if
I would have done a math major in undergrad if it weren't for the combination
of math competitions and advanced math classes from middle school through high
school.

A lot of MathCounts alumni (who self-select to report their current
activities) have gone on in fields science, math, technology, programming, and
business. Was it b/c of MC? Maybe not. And it is true that math competition-
style math is not "real math". Instead, it requires a lot of problem-solving
skills, and to a lesser extent, a knowledge of tricks. Upper-level math
requires a little bit of that kind of "sideways thinking", too.

To me, it is apparent that math contest-style problem-solving is a lot like
hacking together software. You have math tricks (known hacks) and you
synthesize different domains (algebra, geometry, trig; hardware, networks,
storage, etc.) with a little problem-solving (or programming) to get to the
answer (or final version of code). I also think that hacking software is a lot
like doing research ([http://www.elangocheran.com/blog/2012/02/essence-of-
producti...](http://www.elangocheran.com/blog/2012/02/essence-of-
productivity/)), so using the transitive property... I can see how MathCounts
can help foster the analytical skills and math skills that we need as a
society.

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jasonkolb
I never really thought about it, but I love the fact that Moneyball is
exposing people to the power of data and analytics. I've been seeing it all
over the place since it was released. Could be an interesting turning point in
the industry.

