Numerati's definitions

The Amazonification of Singapore Math

When writers-mathepreneurs keen on leveraging on the Singapore math brand are ever grateful to Amazon’s print-on-demand services, which allows them to self-publish their oft-half-edited manuscripts, which were rejected by 99.99% of educational publishers.

The Amazonification of Singapore math and the low interest or investment in AI technologies have led some once-leading publishers to drop from hero to zero until it’s too late for them to do anything.

by Numerati December 30, 2024

The Half-Life of Singapore Math

The time it takes for the bar model method, the heart and soul of Singapore math, to become a common feature in most math curriculums around the world, which implicitly means that it no longer holds the competitive edge over other developed nations in math education.

With pirates from both developing and developed countries leveraging on AI, the half-life of Singapore math is getting exponentially shorter, and the “fine” city of Singapore risks being innovated away if local math educators don’t act now.

by Numerati January 8, 2025

Mathematical Slowies

Non-trick or non-tricky math questions that you can do at your snail’s pace without worry or fear of having to sit for any killer test or exam—they are recommended for self-confessed folks who pride themselves of being “hopeless at math,” or not being born with the “math gene.”

Mathematical slowies are the opposite of “mathematical quickies,” which are generally solved with some insight, and often accompanied by an occasional aha! reaction.

by Numerati January 19, 2025

Trumplation

When you compare a big Tic Tac with a little Tic Tac, which obviously sell at different prices due to their sizes, to define inflation, rather than comparing the prices of two boxes of Tic Tacs of the same size at different times.

MAGAnomics has grossly redefined inflation via trumplation.

by Numerati August 17, 2024

Toilet Pi

When you treasure your time in the toilet to let your wandering mind act as a catalyst to increase your chances of experiencing an aha about or on the number π.

Carlos looks forward to doing his daily business because on a few occasions he’s struck with some toilet pi epiphanies.

by Numerati November 12, 2023

Pimester

A period of about π months, as a division of the duration of a woman’s pregnancy, which is less than a hundred days.

Janette’s craving for pineapples and prawn mee went unabated during her pimester.

by Numerati August 14, 2025

Mathematical Do-ness

Forcing or motivating yourself to DO-ing some math to beat your daily laziness, especially if you are glued or addicted to your cell phone or digital device for an unhealthy number of hours every day.

Some mathematical do-ness activities that could help white-collar workers break away from their sedentary lifestyle are:

Walk exactly 6789 steps.

Create an origami geometric shape out of the newspaper.

Learn to do calculus—differentiate and integrate—with a soroban (Japanese abacus).

Count the number of ballpoint pens in your house.

by Numerati July 29, 2025