North Korea Math

A Communist version of Singapore Math—which is rehashed from the world's best math curriculums—to brainwash students of the power of math in propelling North Korea into a nuclear power.

Math educators believe that if North Korean students were to take part in international comparative studies like PISA and TIMSS, it wouldn't be surprising that they'd rank among the top ten, thanks to the high standard of North Korea math.

by MathPlus July 12, 2017

Slavery Math

Math word problems of yesteryear that condones white racism or supremacism, such as the ungodly relationship between masters and slaves, lords and peasants, or colonizers and savages.

An 1814 issue of “The Analyst” poses the following slavery math problem: “If out of a cargo of 600 slaves, 200 die during a passage of 6 weeks from Africa to the West Indies; how long must the passage be that one half the cargo may perish? Supposing the degree of mortality to be the same throughout the passage, that is, the number of deaths at any time to be proportional to the living at the same time.”

by MathPlus November 10, 2020

Why Can’t Math Be Like Sex?

If teachers and textbook authors would creatively present the oft-sterile math curriculum in a form that would get students excited about the beauty of the subject, by not adulterating but contextualizing the content—by letting learners see both the mathematical forest and the trees.

Mathematics is too important to be left in the hands of mostly uncreative authors or publishers; as a result, teachers and parents would need to sexify the most boring subject in school—they need to ask, “why can’t math be like sex?” to lure unmotivated or mathophobic students.

by MathPlus December 1, 2018

Doom-and-Gloom Math

The hypothesis that a large proportion of the people in the developed world would lack the critical thinking and quantitative skills required of a 21st-century citizen, because the politics of nativism, populism, and racism plaguing their societies have directly or indirectly brainwashed or radicalized them.

Thanks to Trumpism or right-wing politics, clothed under white supremacism or white Christian nationalism, millions of adults and children have fallen victims to the gospel of doom-and-gloom math, who blame millions of immigrants and refugees for stealing their blue-and white-collar jobs and for invading the promised land of their forefathers (who did the same thing to Native Americans).

by MathPlus April 28, 2023

Yo-Yo Math

When schools or states are willing to change their textbooks every other year, as publishers tempt teachers with free resources (and bribe them with airline and cruise tickets).

Getting an entire state to adopt a publisher's set of textbooks is worth millions of dollars, so the sales and marketing personnel would go all out to play yo-yo math with decision makers to get them to choose their titles over those of their competitors.

by MathPlus July 26, 2017

Marijuana Math

The use of marijuana or illegal drugs as a means of relaxation, or as an outlet for creativity, among the best brains in academia to crack those fiendish math problems.

It’s a common sight to see that a number of first-rate mathematicians are heavy smokers, especially when they need a break from their half-baked proofs; however, less commonly known is that the more daring ones would consider marijuana math, hoping for an aha! experience in the process.

by MathPlus January 17, 2018

Voodoo Math

Also known as “Haiti Math”—voodoo is an unofficial religion practiced in Haiti. Math word problems that use zombies or monsters as their characters to teach dark problem solving.

An example of a grade two voodoo math question is: “The line graph shows the weekly number of zombies that were caught by the police during the six-week nationwide lockdown. Use the diagram to answer the following questions.

a) How many more zombies were caught in April than in May?
b) If the zombies were able to bite a victim before they were caught, what is the least number of zombie bites that took place during the entire lockdown?”

by MathPlus May 12, 2021