The Most Correct Bad Math
How you never learned fractions, your algebra teacher lied to you, geometry’s a hoax, derivatives aren’t math, and proofs are actually creative.
How To Simplify Fractions
When in doubt, take the simplest approach.
It makes sense why teachers have kept this secret: it’s too good to be true!
Bet You Didn’t Learn This In Elementary School Algebra? What’s that?
Geometry Done The Correct Way
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Advanced Calculus
Having trouble deriving? Try this expert trick:
When Your Calc Teacher Gives You A Hard Problem
Problem:
Solution: And you thought this wasn’t solvable?
Advice For Writing Proofs
Sometimes, the proof requires some thinking outside the box. If you find yourself stuck, try one of these:
- Proof by Profanity: “&%*&#@, therefore…”
- Proof by Obviousness: “So clear it doesn’t even need to be explained”
- Proof by Intimidation: “Don’t be stupid, of course it’s true!”
- Proof by Google: “Google says it’s true, so…”
- Proof by Reader: *Left as an exercise to the reader*
- Proof by Citing a Non-Existent Theorem: “According to the xyz-hypothesis…”
- Proof by Plausibility: “It sounds good so it must be true.”
- Proof by Calculus: “This proof requires calculus, so we’ll skip it.”
- Proof by Lack of Counterexample: “I can’t think of a reason why this wouldn’t be true, so…”
- Proof by Postponement: “The proof is very long, see appendix” *forget to put in appendix*
- Proof by Vanity: “I mean, it’s not like I could be wrong so…”
How Do We Know Math Is Real? It’s Not
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Rylee is a senior and this is her first year on The Messenger. She loves being active outside, especially rock climbing, backpacking, and backcountry skiing....
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Kai Vennemann is a senior at Garfield High School, and this is his first year as a writer on Messenger. His hobbies include skiing and robotics.