Growing up we all were told the same thing...
"Learn your math because you're going to need it in life."
Sure, being able to figure out the tip at your favorite restaurant, measure and extrapolate ingredients for your favorite recipe, or even figure out how much your bro owes you after your favorite team wins is useful... but how many people need Calculus to get through the day to day grind?
Unless you're a rocket scientist or similar ubergeek, you probably don't employ math on a daily basis. That doesn't mean that these principals aren't affecting your life. You just don't know it.
Slave to a long daily commute, I spend a lot of time in my car allowing my mind to wander off of the road. Today, as I watched the trees race by, I realized something interesting about change....
Change, otherwise known as "delta", is feared like Freddy Kruger as he creeps up on a teen couple caught making out in the cold, dark woods. We fear getting older, fatter, slower, faster, dumber, smarter. We take safeguards to prevent change's effects and protect ourselves from what we know is coming down the road. We are slaves to delta.
Ever notice how 70 miles per hour feels like you're standing still when you're set to cruise control? Ever notice how it feels like you're not even moving once an airplane reaches cruising altitude? You're still moving... changing... flying through space and time, yet it feels as though you are standing still.
Delta has gotten a bad wrap. We hardly even notice change. The earth moves every day, we got slowly older, and time passes. The reason why it passes undetected? These changes move as steady as a car set to cruise control. There's no acceleration. There's no change in the speed at which change is occurring. That's what Calculus is all about: measuring the speed at which things change. See, your teachers WERE right. Math DOES play a part in your every day life!
.... I pushed the pedal down, disengaged the cruise control, and accelerated home. Some things are worth risking the unknown, running into the wind, and seeing what's going to happen. Acceleration, not change, is what life's all about.
Cheers!
