I have a little secret. Well, it’s not really a secret. I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about it before. I just don’t mention it very often because it seems like a much bigger uphill battle and I have intentionally chosen a path of less resistance.
Here’s the truth. I don’t believe math people exist. I know what you are thinking. How can someone who has a podcast titled “I See Math People” and who shows up every week talking about how everyone is a math person not believe in math people?
{This is a modified transcript for Episode 39 of the I See Math People podcast. To listen instead, click here.}
Before you get all bent out of shape and cancel me, just hear me out.
Using a term like “math person” implies that somewhere there exists someone who is not a math person. Since I don’t believe it is possible to be a human and not be a math person, I can’t really believe in the idea of a math person either.
Do you follow?
If everyone interacts with math and is therefore a “math person” there’s no need to even have the label, which, in case you haven’t made the connection yet, is a category. And categories are a way of organizing similar things into groups. So even the act of using “not a math person” as a label for yourself actually makes you a math person 🙂
Is your head spinning yet?
As you can now see, this is a much more difficult conversation to have with folks who already have the idea of a math person deeply ingrained in their thinking. That conversation also doesn’t seem like much fun to me and I don’t think it would make a very interesting topic for an entire podcast. Maybe for an episode or blog post or two, but definitely not for the long haul. So…instead of trying to convince you that math people don’t exist, I have intentionally chosen the more fun path here, to redefine what it means to be a “math person” and show you all the ways you are one, in hopes that you develop a keen awareness of how often you use mathematical thinking and that your perception of yourself begins to shift.
{Side note: if you are interested in learning more about this category thing I mentioned, and how using labels makes you a math person, I invite you to check out this post where I talk about categories and other ideas beginning with C.}
Let’s get this discussion going with the next letter in the alphabet, the letter K. As I mentioned last time, J and K are a little thin when it comes to unique and commonly recognized terms that have a mathematical connection. I almost combined J and K into one post for this reason, but ultimately decided to keep them separate. Are you ready?
Today we are really going to talk about just one term in several different contexts. That term is key.
Key
Key is a term that has several different meanings in the English language. A physical key you hold in your hand can unlock all sorts of things…doors, padlocks, safes, your child’s diary. It can also wind up an old clock or start your car…if you drive a model that still uses an actual key, that is.
We talk about something being the key, like a key concept or a key idea, when it in a sense “unlocks” further understanding or forms the basis for deeper learning. Having a real understanding of how numbers work, or number sense for example, is key to flexible thinking with numbers and makes learning more complex concepts easier. Am I saying using keys makes you a math person? No. I am not. Although recognizing which key opens your front door and which starts your car does involve pattern recognition, which does make you a math person.
What I am saying is that thinking about key ideas and recognizing their importance in learning or in understanding a more complex topic is an important skill to develop. And, that sometimes, the experiences you had that led to your belief that you are not a math person could have something to do with missing out on a key concept or two. As an example, I’ve mentioned before that if you have difficulty with fractions, you might have not fully developed your understanding of multiplication. Here, multiplication is a key foundational concept for fluently operating with fractions.
There are a couple of contexts where using a key does make you a math person. One is when you are using key values to help you make decisions or to solve a problem. A key value is an important value, like the maximum you can spend on a new car or the minimum income that allows you to pay the bills. Those are just two examples of where you might interact with the idea of key values.
Another context that makes you a math person is when that key contains symbols and labels that help you understand a visual representation of information. A map key, for example, gives you information for understanding what the symbols on the map represent. It tells you which lines are interstates, which are state boundaries, and which trail will lead you to that waterfall you want to see. I know, who even uses a map anymore? The GPS does it all these days, right?
A little fun fact about me is that I love maps. When we vacationed in Hawai’i last year, two of my souvenirs were actual paper foldout maps of the islands we visited. And yes, we did use those maps to plan our outings and find our way to certain places.
Have you ever consulted the directory at a shopping center to find the bathroom or the food court or your favorite store? Those bathroom symbols on the map are part of the key and so is the number next to the store you want to visit. When you find the name in the list and then locate the number on the map, you are using a key to find what you need.
Keys aren’t just for maps, though. They are often associated with graphs and charts, as well. They are what tells you which color line on the graph of the energy report from your power company represents your home and which bar on your cell phone usage report shows how much time you spent on social media last week.
Musicians use key signatures and if you play the piano, you are familiar with another definition of key. Those definitions are kind of a stretch for today, but I have an entire post devoted to the topic of math in music. It’s titled Math is Music and if you’d like to dive into that, you can find it here.
So, I’m not going to say all kinds of keys make you a math person. But I am going to say that if you use key values, or symbol keys to help you understand a map, a graph, or some other type of visual information, you definitely are a math person.
I was also going to talk about the prefix “kilo,” which means 1000 in the metric system and the idea of kinematics, which describes motion. I might include those in my next book…The Mathabet…but I don’t think I’ll go into them here. Beyond knowing how many miles you go when you run or walk a 5K, you probably don’t deal with kilo very much. And while it’s cool that you can know exactly where you need to be to catch that fly ball in the outfield, I think discussions about kinematics will save for later.
I’m so grateful you joined the conversation today! I’m on a mission to change the way the world sees math, starting with you. If you found value in this post, if something you read made you pause, or if you suddenly realized the hidden math in something you do every day, now is the time to join the movement!
When you comment here and share this site, or when you subscribe to, rate, and share the I See Math People podcast, the algorithms will show it to more people and the more people who get the message, the more mindsets can begin to shift.
Thank you for being part of this discussion of a few of the mathematical concepts beginning with the letter K. I truly hope you heard something about keys of all types that you can relate to and that it made you stop and think about where math shows up for you on a daily basis. Noticing where you interact with math is the first step to beginning your mindset shift and seeing yourself as the math person you really are.
I’m Jennifer Mason Hardin and everywhere I look I see math people just like you.
