MathPlus's definitions

Flood, Fire, or Famine

When everybody goes through a hard time every now and then, but this is necessary not only to build up their character and faith, but each trial propels them to a greater height and a higher plane.

You may go through a flood, fire, or famine, but if you know who God is in your life, the pain and frustration are often a mere set-up for something greater that you are about to experience in your life.

by MathPlus October 19, 2017

“America First” Math

When the US is toying with the idea of imposing exorbitant tariffs on foreign publishers, which would make it hard for them to ship their wallet-friendly, brain-unfriendly math titles to American homeschoolers, students, and teachers.

A number of hardcore Trumpublicans want their senators to push for an “America First” math bill to protect local authors from being outwitted by their foreign counterparts, whose titles cost a fraction of most dear inch-deep-mile-wide US math textbooks.

by MathPlus July 11, 2021

Zoombie

Someone who looks like they just woke up or walked off from a Zoom session in progress, or from one that just ended.

Since lockdowns started, mental hospitals worldwide had alerted the authorities that hundreds of zoombies were admitted with severe forms of antisocial or evil behaviors, with a number of them entertaining suicidal thoughts to stop their recurring mental or demonic torments.

by MathPlus April 16, 2021

Kosong Math

Math titles that come with zero hints and solutions, which is usually a no-no or put-off even for above-average students, who want to study the solutions of brain-unfriendly questions to hone their mathematical problem-solving skills—“kosong” is the Malay word for zero.

It’s not surprising that no matter how creative or fertile the math questions in some kosong math books are, few teachers, much less parents or homeschoolers, are attracted to buying them, which is a double blow for both authors and publishers, which ought to know better that zero solutions often translates into low or no sales.

by MathPlus July 15, 2021

ippiteracy

When someone is not piterate, as they are unaware of falsehoods or white lies about the number π, which might elude even long-serving math teachers and exam-smart parents.

Common signs of ippiteracy among students and teachers are: π = 22/7, pi is defined in relation to a circle or limited to geometry, and π = 3 for biblical literalists.

by MathPlus September 10, 2021

Covid-⍺

Read as “Covid-alpha.” Also known as the B.1.1.7 or “Alpha” variant. The UK or Kent variant is believed to be the second deadliest variant after the India variant to sweep across a number of countries—however, alpha patients are more than twice less likely to be hospitalized than their delta counterparts.

Covid-⍺, which is estimated to be 40%–80% more transmissible than Covid-19, is

believed to be more infectious because it contains mutations that make it better adapted to evade the immune system, thus allowing it to replicate and potentially find new hosts.

by MathPlus June 21, 2021

Vaccine Hesitancy Is Healthy

When the decision to vaccinate or not is too important to be left in the hands of so-called health experts, university hospital professors and researchers, pharmaceutical firms, and politicians, who all have a vested interest in promoting vaccination, be it for herd immunity; economic recovery; vaccine diplomacy, supremacy, or nationalism; profiteering; popularity; or politics—their mantra is that the benefits of getting a shot outweigh the risks, whose short-term advice may not always be in the long-term health interest of the general public.

Just because a decent proportion of the population have been partially or fully vaccinated for whatever personal, selfish, or altruistic reasons, this doesn’t mean that others too should blindly or ritually follow suit, because groupthink or the “wisdom of the crowd” doesn’t always translate in all spheres of life, particularly when potential long-term adverse effects associated with nontraditional techniques of producing vaccines cannot be discounted—when vaccine hesitancy is healthy for those who won’t let themselves easily fall for, or be fooled by, any health expert’s recommendation.

by MathPlus June 13, 2021