Numerati's definitions

Mathematical Toughies

A term for brain-unfriendly or challenging math questions that generally evoke panic and fear, which may also be accompanied by recurring nightmares, among math-anxious or mathophobic students, parents, and teachers—the opposite of “mathematical slowies.”

For most educated folks, who lack the intelligence or training to solving math contests and olympiad questions, these mathematical toughies are off-putting or repugnant to them.

by Numerati January 24, 2025

xtremist

A symbol-minded person who spends most of his waking hours thinking how to solve the value(s) of x in all kinds of equations, or the range of the values of x in inequalities (or inequations).

Last Christmas, Pastor Jonah mistook an xtremist for the world’s most dangerous fellow on social media, who also happens to be the world’s richest man.

by Numerati October 8, 2024

Math is for girls, too!

An arguably male chauvinist or sexist slogan that subtly implies that girls and women are inferior in math or logic than boys and men, rather than an attempt to educate an oft-male-biased society that both sexes are equally qualified to read math in college or academia.

The manuscript entitled “Math is for girls, too!” was twice rejected by the publisher, which specializes in DEI and feminist titles, without any reasons whatsoever.

by Numerati July 3, 2025

Naked Pi

When the number π could no longer hide her insecurities before her fellow mathematical constants, because the pressure to appear cool in popular culture is taking a toll on her psychological well-being—when fame and popularity come with such a high price that she could lose everything if she failed to reorder her priorities.

Naked Pi’s psychologist advised her to stop being a people pleaser or rescuer unless she doesn’t mind her fans and foes controlling her life.

by Numerati August 20, 2025

6-7

When puritan parents are asked by their kids what the number sixty-nine means, they pretend they misheard it as sixty-seven, so they start chanting “six-seven, six-seven, six-seven” repeatedly—each time louder and faster—until the young ones start parroting it too.

In strict Singapore schools, where grades K–12 students generally respect teachers, some mean or no-nonsense educators vow to kick out rude or cheeky kids who’re caught saying or swearing 6-7 in class.

by Numerati November 17, 2025

Bar-Modeling Orthogonality

When incorporating Singapore’s bar model method—the problem-solving visualization strategy to tackle word problems—at the elementary school level and its aim to develop students’ pre-algebraic thinking skills (before they are introduced to formal algebra) are not often partially achievable or necessarily correlated in practice.

Wallet-friendly Singapore math textbooks, workbooks, and teachers’ resources on their own doesn’t guarantee problem-solving mastery—bar-modeling orthogonality seems to be a constant in many traditional American classrooms, often because of teachers’ or parents’ faux perception that a foreign math curriculum or publication is harder (or even inferior) than their local inch-deep-mile-wide one.

by Numerati December 5, 2024

AI-gebra

The use or misuse of AI to generate free algebra questions, most of which are quasi-plagiarized from social media platforms, where unknowns, variables, or parameters are represented by look-alike logos or trademarked symbols.

On querying ChatGPT to produce a sample of middle-school AI-gebra questions, Mr. Pinocchio was greeted with the following:

1. Solve these equations.
a) 𝕏 = 𝕏 + 1
b) 5 + 4x = 4(x – 2)

2. Find 𝕏 for which (𝕏 + 3)² = 𝕏² + 9.

3. Solve the following:
(i) 𝕏(2𝕏 + 3) = 2𝕏(𝕏 + 3)
(ii) (x + 2)² = x² + 4x + 3

by Numerati August 4, 2023