MathPlus's definitions

A Mask for Math

When the effort or resourcefulness of tens of thousands of math tutors in Singapore covers up most local school teachers’ poor teaching pedagogies or methodologies and their low enthusiasm or creativity, thus exonerating the latter in making the subject appear dull and boring and unconnected to real life.

If there was a months-long lockdown in Singapore due to the pandemic, except for the thousands of families who can’t afford private tuition for their children, the math grades of the majority of middle-class students wouldn’t significantly suffer, because of a mask for math culture that has permeated the entire educational system for decades.

by MathPlus September 12, 2021

Did Trump Have Nine Lives?

An equivalent of asking “Could Donald J. Trump be nearing the last stage of his decade-long corrupt and criminal lifestyle after devilishly and successfully avoiding fines and jail sentences time and time again?”

How long could Trump’s “political persecution” be used as a legal excuse to exonerate him from being locked up? Did Trump have nine lives? Have bribes, crimes, and lies finally lost patience with him and his cronies? Has Heaven’s impatience taken hold of them?

by MathPlus July 2, 2021

Think Inside the Box

A counterintuitive, underused strategy that is seldom emphasized in generating creative solutions, compared to the oft-canned strategy of “think outside the box”—better still, if there is no box.

Unlike novices who religiously think out of the box, professionals know that breakthroughs often take place when they reluctantly think inside the box—constraints are the catalyst to creativity.

by MathPlus December 17, 2018

Yoga

A Hindu form of breathing exercise, which includes meditation and spiritual practices, whose allegedly “protective” properties could shield someone from the coronavirus—a pseudoscientific cure promoted by no other than nationalistic Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and his gang of “corona gurus.”

Just as the American ex-president promoted disinfectants and UV light as corona cures to his millions of diehard supporters, the Indian prime minister is now touting yoga as a spiritual cure against Covid-19 and the deadlier “Delta” variant to his hardcore BJP supporters.

by MathPlus June 21, 2021

Math Currency

When sharing useful, light-hearted, or creative math stuff to fellow math educators around the globe gives them an opportunity to know you and to recommend you to interested parties that might need someone with your expertise to meet their mathematical needs or wants.

In addition to performance currency (when you deliver upon a product above people’s expectations) and relationship currency (when you take the time to connect, engage, and get to know people in your milieu), you need math currency to make yourself an odd in a sea of evens.

by MathPlus October 28, 2021

Singapore

The destination of choice for millionaires and billionaires from Indonesia, China, India, Europe, and the United States during the pandemic, because of the island state’s relative low infection, mortality, and crime rates, compared to the rest of the developed world, where white racism or supremacism, nativism, and xenophobia, often condoned by right-wing inept politicians, are at an all-time high.

More than a tax haven for the filthy rich from both the East and the West, Singapore is now a “corona sanctuary” for the wealthy and the celebrities escaping the ravages of the pandemic sweeping their countries, whose oft-ill-run health systems leave much to be desired.

by MathPlus July 4, 2021

Blind Faith

When the ghosts of atheists, agnostics, or nominal believers who had their lives cut short by the pandemic on earth would still visit their place of worship every week or month to pray for themselves and their loved ones, while they are waiting in transit for the outcome of their eternal home.

Dave’s spirit, who was rekindled by blind faith, would show up on the first and fifteenth days at the temple to pray for the gods and goddesses of good health and prosperity to bless his siblings and schoolmates, and sometimes even for his bosses-turned-bullies.

by MathPlus March 18, 2022