Ok so, you know when you are just innocently scrolling through your news feed, then something hits you like a ton of bricks, not unlike The Rock on Smack Down? And no, I’m not referring to a cat rolling around on the floor chasing a ball of yarn while a camera is strapped to its tail whilst ‘Rolling with the Hommies’ plays in the background.
Firstly, you may be wondering what could have garnered this impression. (You may not have, but work with me here).
Basically, algebra builds you a better brain, and apparently this has been panned by the social media collective whose allegiance to this post has racked up thousands of hearts, like, retweets, pins, etc. It was at this point I uttered an acronym that I do not wish to repeat, and found myself on a journey of mathematical discovery.
Let me show you my working…
For it is not in the direct mathematical application that we learn to use algebra for everyday use…it teaches us how to think in an abstract way, outside a quadrilateral if you will, where our brains begin to form fresh neural pathways for carrying out everyday tasks in new, and presumably more efficient, ways.
How does this happen?
“Learning algebra isn’t about acquiring a specific tool; it’s about building a mental muscle that will come in handy elsewhere”
– Steven Johnson, ‘everything bad is good for you’
So, you could say that a fashionista doesn’t go shopping because they are fascinated by how an EFTPOS transaction is approved without a credit card ever touching the cradle (if you are, that’s totally cool, here’s a youtube video). You go shopping because you’re finally buying those totes amazeballs (did I just say that?) Chloe Suzanna studded ankle boots that you’ve been eyeing off in the Shoe Bar at David Jones for twelve months, and have been dreaming about them ever since Sienna Miler rocked them with skinning grey stovepipe jeans back in 2010. This elated state of being comes down to shopping releasing endorphins which makes you feel good, where happy people just don’t shoot their husbands…sorry, my neoropthways have set my brain to movie quote as its default setting…anyways, the benefit one gains by wearing those shoes are the thousand hearts you’ll receive on Instagram, once they’ve been shot from an upright angle, with a chia spirulina chai green smoothie worked back with a Marc Jacobs rose gold watch.
How would a fashion blogger use this information in a real world setting?
Take the humble yet at times ostentatious runway shows each season. If you knew the weight of the model, atop 3” platforms, and the length of the runway, you could calculate how fast she would be traveling once she reached the end of the runway. Why would you need to know this? Timing of the next model down the runway, what tracks to play in order to keep the speed of the show, and models, moving at an even pace? Granted, you could just get Kelly Cutrone to expertly call ‘next’ backstage in the midst of the chaos, but wouldn’t you feel cognitively satiated by timing it perfectly yourself?
So, my fashion friends, the lesson learned today is, no matter how frustrating and daunting maths can be, you have to look beyond the numbers and letters, granted they seemingly stand for nothing other than giving the alphabet something to do, and see the bigger picture. In the end, algebra will stretch your brain, get you to start thinking about real world situations in a new light, and a solution will be found so seamlessly, you won’t even know algebra was the concept holding your hand the whole time.
…or maybe the real lesson to be learned here is that I really shouldn’t take internet memes so seriously.
