Numerati's definitions

Mathematical Purrfection

When educators who are cat lovers love to pose creative math questions—and mathematical quickies or trickies—that center around their pets (or “masters of the house”), or are attracted by real-life word problems that embrace the feline family.

Two brain-unfriendly questions that exhibit mathematical purrfection are:

1. At a Cats’ Café, how many cute kittens are there if there are 9 more legs than tails?

2. Guesstimate the average cat bill at the veterinarian over her lifestyle.

by Numerati June 18, 2025

Wasabi Math

Math problems titles filled with oft-minimalist information that tend to put off or confuse math-anxious people, who may find them mentally nauseating or brain-unfriendly.

Like wasabi peas and sushis, wallet-friendly wasabi math titles from Asian and Communist countries would petrify the majority of K–12 American students and their teachers, who’re spoon-fed with drill-and-kill questions.

by Numerati November 24, 2024

Mindful Modeling

When the conscious effort of coming up with an apt model drawing that connects the knowns and unknowns in a math word problem can enhance the readability or elegance of a solution—when a “look-see” proof could arouse an aha! in the problem solver.

If only more math educators were to practice mindful modeling, the number of students or homeschoolers embracing Singapore’s bar model method could potentially increase ten folds in no time.

by Numerati June 11, 2025

Pirealism

Pi-related paintings or dreams that most people wouldn’t dare to talk about or share with others, because a large proportion of the content or event looks surreal, weird, abnormal, or occultic.

What are the chances that the roots of pirealism are demonic or satanic, or are the result of the influences of psychedelic drugs?

by Numerati November 25, 2023

Pismith

A coiner or christener of π-related words or phrases, most of which have made Urban Dictionary their dwelling of choice.

With the advent of the metaverse, what are the chances that pismiths would soon show up there too?

by Numerati July 1, 2025

Math Porn

That applying math in meeting people’s needs and wants, or in coming up with products of desire, could make you über-rich, because the geeks shalt inherit the earth—think of the founders of Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, TikTok, and Tesla.

Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Musk are today’s most prominent hate-and-love ambassadors of the math porn movement, whose products or services have led billions of users into technological or digital bondage.

by Numerati September 23, 2024

Bar Modeling

The mathematical equivalent of a child riding a tricycle before switching to a bicycle, or using a float while learning to swim—using bar diagrams instead of forming algebraic equations to solve word problems.

Bar modeling, which is the heart and soul of the Singapore math curriculum, acts a bridge between elementary (or primary) math and middle school (or secondary) math—where concrete rectangles or bars are used instead of abstract variables for unknown quantities.

by Numerati December 28, 2024