MathPlus's definitions

Wi-Fi Idol

When someone spends an inordinate amount of time daily to keep themselves hooked to the internet that a slight withdrawal from social networks could trigger a “digital fit” in them, which would adversely affect their well-being.

Instead of treating the Wi-Fi as a blessing rather than a curse, Jane has allowed the Wi-fi idol to enslave her to the point that she’d need to go for spiritual deliverance to free her from digital addiction.

by MathPlus September 12, 2018

No Sorry, Be on Time

When being late has become such a bad habit or perpetual sin among lots of selfish people that it is easier to apologize for making everybody wait for them than make the effort to being on time.

Saying sorry is conveniently easy and seldom comes with a penalty, but planning their time to be punctual is pretty hard for an unhealthy number of folks—for them, “no sorry, be on time” sounds like Greek to them.

by MathPlus December 22, 2018

Living with Covid-19

An acknowledgment that we have to respect rather than reject the virus—we needn’t be petrified or paralyzed by the pandemic, but we must not lose sight of the danger the virus poses, which could result in death, in the event of infection or reinfection (with or without vaccination).

After governments realized that “Zero Covid” wasn’t feasible, they reluctantly shifted their strategy to “Living with Covid-19,” as their populations reach endemicity and hopefully achieve herd immunity in a-not-too-distant future.

by MathPlus March 11, 2022

Thou Shalt Not Mask Your Math

The unwritten or unspoken commandment for math educators worldwide not to conceal their weaknesses or deficiencies, or to pretend that they could figure out the answers by themselves; instead, they would be wiser to turn to their Creator, the Greatest Mathematician, for wisdom and insight to solve their logical, psychological, or mathematical difficulties.

If more math teachers, writers, or editors were to put into practice the “Thou Shalt Not Mask Your Math” commandment, they needn’t frustratingly spend so much time and effort in solving their mathematical ills, because the Holy Spirit could in a twinkle of an eye reveal to them the solutions, which would otherwise have taken them a hundred or thousand times longer to figure them out.

by MathPlus March 28, 2021

Mathematical Sensitivity

When a math teacher decides not to hurt the feelings of their weak students, by insincerely using large numbers and symbols to grade their test paper—for example, a student receiving back their exam paper with a score of (√81)/90 or 4²/100, mistaking it for 81/100 or 42/100.

Some parents object to teachers’ “mathematical sensitivity” or fake feedback, preferring that they’d tell their child the painful truth how poorly they had performed in their math test.

by MathPlus November 30, 2020

π

An irrational number that is traditionally defined with respect to the circle, such as the following:
The length of a semicircle of radius one unit.
The angle measure of a straight line segment in radians.
The number of times the perimeter of a circle is more than its diameter.

To help students appreciate π beyond the canned definition that it is the ratio of circumference to diameter, teachers ought to define it in terms of other quantities not related to the circle.

by MathPlus January 21, 2021

The Dodo Is Alive!

When some Trumpists-turned-QAnonists still stranded on the volcanic island of Mauritius—who needed to concoct a half-believe story to gain public attention so that they could fly back home—told the locals that they spotted a big bird that resembled the flightless dodo in the middle of the night, when the country was still on lockdown, thus raising the infinitesimal hope that the Mauritian bird, thought extinct, is far from dead.

That “the dodo is alive!” sounds like a modern version of the biblical story of Jesus’ raising Lazarus, who had already been in the tomb for four days, from the dead—even if the big bird is long dead, who says that it can’t miraculously be resurrected?

by MathPlus December 12, 2020