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| Why I hate trigonometry by Tay I hate trigonometry. I really do. Really. But this isn�t my usual rant, which I conveniently disguise as one of those columns that editors write. I personally think that trigonometry will never ever help us in real life. I also think that most adults don�t even know what trigonometry is. To test this hypothesis I decided to ask some people if they knew what it is and if they ever use it in real life. Some of the situations in tests for trigonometry seem a little screwy (e.g. Joey wants to know how high the cathedral tower is. He is standing 45 m away from the bottom of it, and knows that he is looking at it from an angle of 65 degrees. How high is the cathedral tower?) When is the �youf� of today ever going to need to know how high a cathedral tower is? And how did he know he was looking at it from an angle of 65 degrees? And what�s with his name? A situation like that would never ever happen. Ever. Only in some kind of magical fairy land where successful people have high paying jobs figuring out how high cathedral towers are. On to the survey sort of part of the story. I couldn�t really be bothered asking many people, so I just asked my family and the other people who always seem to be hanging around my house (don�t they have homes of their own?) I figured out that no kids who weren�t either geniuses or freaks of nature or in high school knew what (shudder) trigonometry is. I cleverly came to this conclusion when my sister, brother and one of the numerous miscellaneous kids who seem to live at my house saw what I was typing and said �what�s trig-oh-no-metr-eeeee� like some sort of person who couldn�t read. I spent a while trying to explain but gave up. Onto the adults. I asked mum if she knew what trigonometry is. She says �Not really.� I say �So it hasn�t helped in daily life� and she says �If I knew what it was it might�ve helped me�. On the other hand, Dad knows what trigonometry is, apparently. He says sailors need to know trigonometry. But I never, ever intend to become a sailor. And anyway I am sort of under the impression that you don�t have to be very smart to be a sailor(thanks Gilligan�s Island). I hate trigonometry. |
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