Blog Post 5: Babylonian Word Problems

I found it interesting reading about word problems as I struggled with them (applied math) far more than pure math growing up. Although I dreaded them in school, I think word problems help students develop the skills they need to transfer their math knowledge to real-world situations (i.e., making the skills students learn useful in their daily lives). 

During the reading, I liked the section by Ainley on practicality as it answered questions I myself had as a student. I previously maintained the argument that applied math was too contrived to feel useful, though the interviewer's response was something I had never considered; that if they were not, they may be far too difficult (or easy) to be of use. 

I found the discourse on pages 6 and 7 thought-provoking. In my opinion, although abstract problems may appear unuseful, they can be healthy for the brain and can enhance our cognitive abilities. As a psychology student, I rarely (or never) use high-level math, so the way that I see math coming into play in my life is mainly for developing creative problem-solving skills. While I may never need their lessons, I have held onto some math 9-12 workbooks from my schooling to use as brain puzzels.