Math is an Invaluable Skill

This is short tale from my forthcoming Memoir "The Curious Path I Couldn't Resist," outlining how I was able get proficient in math in a roundabout manner.

During grade school, I was ambivalent towards math, although I had a certain aptitude for it. By math, I mean addition and subtraction, multiplication, percentages, ratios, and decimals—not geometry, trigonometry, or algebra. Through following pro sports in the newspaper, I developed a comfort with numbers that increased my understanding. After receiving the newspaper, I’d grab the sports section and review yesterday’s MLB baseball scores during the summer. Of course, I first went to the St. Louis Cardinals (my favorite team). Besides the actual scores, I wanted to see how my favorite players and overall stars did the day before. This included hits, walks, and home runs, and involved reviewing facts and figures to help tell the story of a particular game. Many games weren’t on TV, so my imagination was engaged. Reading the game summary and reviewing the box scores, I applied math and analytical thinking. I had a similar approach to professional basketball. In the late sixties and early seventies, how did the Milwaukee Bucks do with at the time, Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson? Once I exhausted their box score, other games would be reviewed. What was the attendance? Did anyone have a great shooting percentage? Was anyone given a technical foul during the game? Which players relied more on scoring, and others who rebounded well, blocked shots, and played outstanding defense? Again, getting comfortable with data and percentages helped tell the story of yesterday’s game.

Besides sports, I was very interested in demographics and statistics. Not having Wikipedia or AI at my disposal, I used encyclopedias, the Guinness Book of Records, and other publications to review and analyze different data. This information included world population, language use worldwide, income levels, major landforms, percentages, and the like. I loved demographics. Studying global data helped me make sense of our world. Perhaps I learned more math through box scores and studying demographics than in actual math class.

The new Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

So, through math class, demographic study and baseball box scores, I became comfortable with math. Today, I’m able to do most basic math equations in my head, fifteen times twenty or what is twelve percent of one million—sometimes answering a question or puzzle just meant moving the decimal point. That comfort level brought me to the point that if overcharged at a restaurant or grocery store by a few more dollars or more, my math instinct kicks in. At that point, something doesn't sit well with me.

Again, I’m grateful for this skill, but I realize some people struggle with basic math or aren’t comfortable or confident in it. Some were never able to balance a checkbook effectively. People close to me are in the financial services industry, and many of their clients don’t have that same comfort level with numbers and percentages, so they seek out a professional for assistance. I have to be clear here and emphasize that hiring financial professionals can be a wise decision, but choosing a financial specialist just based on one's lack of confidence in math shouldn’t be the only reason to do so. Some of these clients don't trust themselves with percentages, ratios, and decimals. So, they may be less comfortable with demographics, spreadsheets, and databases. It also means reviewing their income statement, or that 401(k) success isn’t a regular part of their comfort level. I think this is an open secret. I feel for them; not everyone has a good relationship with math. At the same time, I’m so fortunate and indebted to have been able to learn basic math thoroughly inside and outside the classroom.

Math is an Invaluable Skill