The advent of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether has provided math educators worldwide with fertile resources to indulge themselves in creative mathematical posing and solving.
Unfortunately, the negative perception that cryptocurrency or crypto is a vector for serious organized crime and money laundering has led millions of half-informed or risk-averse folks to adopt a wait-and-see attitude vis-à-vis Bitcoin transactions.
Who/What Is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Nobody knows the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. If the name isn’t a he or she or it, could the name be a covert group of cryptographers and mathematicians?
Like the modern-day equivalent of the Bourbaki group—the collective pseudonym of a group of predominantly French mathematicians in the 1930s, who tried to axiomatize mathematics to make it more rigorous?
So far, the few suspects—digital-currency addict Nick Szabo, Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki, and Co.—all have denied being the founder of Bitcoin, except for Australian computer scientist who loudly but unprovenly claimed that he is Nakamoto.
Crypto Math
Posing fertile crypto math questions is only limited by our imagination. Thanks to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the Metaverse, I’ve toyed around with a number of crypto math questions.
Below are a sample of Bitcoin-related questions that I hope would make their way into a math booklet fit for publication in a-not-too-distant future.
Bitcoins are divided into Satoshis: one hundred million Satoshis in each Bitcoin. At the current Bitcoin price, what fraction of a U.S. cent is worth the smallest fraction of a Bitcoin?
In 2010, a pizza restaurant agreed to accept ten thousand Bitcoins in exchange for two large pizzas. At today’s exchange rate, how much would each pizza be worth?
In September 2021, El Salvador approved Bitcoin as a secondary currency; in April 2022, Central African Republic followed suit. Which rogue or war-torn nation in Asia or the Middle East would be the first one to make Bitcoin its official currency? Or would it be “fine” city Singapore that would lead the way in becoming SE Asia’s crypto hub?
Crypto Apocalypse: What are the odds that due to hyperinflation (or a possible WW3 in the aftermath of the senseless Ukraine-Russia war) people would start losing faith in Bitcoin to the point that it suffered the same fate as the Zimbabwean dollar bills?
A golf resort is rumored to have been gifted with 13.257 ETH and 12.5 bitcoin from a Middle Eastern prince. How much did the shady resort receive in cash donation from their criminal donor?
Crypto Winter Is Coming!
With news of a crypto winter in the horizon, let’s hope that the mathematics of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency wouldn’t deter math educators globally from getting involved in creative mathematical thinking and problem solving.
I don’t know about you, but I’m waiting for Bitcoin to drop under $10,000 as my next buy alert. The future lies in Bitcoin—or in blockchain.
In the aftermath of a Singapore permanent resident who was bitten 26 times by a romp of otters in 10 seconds at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which attracted mixed reactions from both locals and foreigners, I entertained the idea how math teachers could use this once-in-a-lifetime incident to indulge in some problem posing for elementary math students.
As natural swimmers, Singapore’s smooth coated otters, once thought to be extinct, have made a comeback to the island-state. They are believed to have swum across the Straits of Johore and made their homes here. Their present “locations of choice” are: Bishan Park, the Kallang River estuary, Marina Bay, and Singapore Botanic Gardens—and the Singapore Zoo.
Singaponacci Numbers and the C-Word
Mathematically or theoretically speaking, without culling, Singapore’s otters could exponentially grow as fast as Fibonacci’s rabbits, although otter sexperts think there are alternative humane ways of family planning.
An “otterman” who was furious that netizens had uttered the C-word against the cute-looking furry creature blamed them for spreading white lies or fake news about these “critically endangered animals.”
The Fear Factor
These “urban pests” seem to be better protected under the Wildlife Act than we humans against the Delta and Omicron variants. They’ve the SPCA behind them, but we’ve the POFMA* and FICA** over us to police our online behaviors.
Can you distinguish an adult otter from a baby seal?
Co-Existing with Covid and Otters
Last week, in the light of Singapore’s otter saga making the headlines overseas, I tweeted the following:
Otter Math: If the present population of 150 otters doubles every leap year, while Singapore’s annual fertility rate continues to head south, with zero immigration allowed, when would otter babies outnumber human babies? https://lnkd.in/gVfqjEZ8
Animals’ cruelty against humans: Otters bit a Singapore Botanic Gardens visitor 26 times in 10 seconds. What are the chances that such a similar incident happening again are less than the odds of someone being abducted by an alien? https://bit.ly/3oH93IO
Canals, Condos & Churches
Singaporean river otters are notorious in devouring dear ornamental fish found in condominiums and churches. If the probability of rich people disliking otters is x folds higher than that of poor folks, guesstimate x.
What are the odds that someone from a middle-income family in Singapore is more likely to cross paths with an otter family thanks to a greening Singapore, which provides an ideal milieu for otters to breed stresslessly, compared to Singaporeans, who often can’t even find a little space to do their private business?
Otter: Singapore’s Unofficial Mascot
Think of Singapore as an otter, and its frenemies-neighbors as crocodiles and monitor lizards. When threatened by its natural resources-rich, but militarily weaker, neighbors, Singapore would hit back to defend itself. Sure, they’d use low-cost warfare tactics like forest haze and arsenic-polluted rainwater to frustrate their little-red-dot neighbor—a form of asymmetric warfare to neutralize the enemy by natural and man-made means.
How not to mismanage Singapore’s otter population
Thou Shalt Not Catch an Otter!Fine: S$X
How much is the fine for someone caught capturing or trapping otters in the “fine” city of Singapore? What are the odds that a repeated offender could get jailed or/and caned for their illegal activity?
What If? Exotic Singapore Cuisine
Does otter meat taste more like chicken, beef, or pork? What if Singapore started farming otters to satisfy the desire of adventurous gourmets? Like crocodile, deer, or frog meat, could the legalized consumption of otter meat be a lucrative food business for both locals and aliens, who are looking for an exotic dish (halal, kosher & vegetarian), if there were a mismanaged otter population control in future?
An Otters Naming Contest
In the past, Singapore had the famous or notorious romp of otters called the “The Marina 10.” Now, we’ve local groups like the Zouk Family. Has the raft of otters that bit the über-unlucky British man 26 times at the Singapore Botanic Gardens been christened? If not, why about having a national contest to name them following the recent biting incident, which could have potentially led to Singapore’s first case of “death by otters”?
Otter Math for Mature Students
Let’s end with a grades 1–2 otter math question to tickle actress Sandra Bullock’s two children and their peers, who’ve been jabbed (or maybe even boosted) with a dose or two of the Singapore math vaccine to protect them against the plague of innumeracy:
After seeing an otter family of twelve devouring the fish in their condominium pond, a number of children were traumatized for weeks. Five children had recurring nightmares about the attack. There were three fewer children having nightmares than those needing counseling.
a) If two boys and a pair of twin sisters met up with a school counselor, how many children were altogether affected by the otter invasion?
b) Guesstimate how many fish were eaten up by the hungry otters in a few minutes before they made their way to the swimming pool.
Answer: (a) 13 children (b) Hint: Think about the demographics of the condo residents.
A grades 4–6 Singapore math question
Answer: 1. 8 koi fish. Can you solve the question in more than one way without algebra?
* POFMA: Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act ** FICA: Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act
Slightly more than a year before Singapore won its first gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, I tweeted that “Joseph Schooling’s golds at the SEA Games looks like Barcelona or Manchester United, winning the Singapore’s S-league. #swimming” (@SingaporeLite on June 11, 2015).
From 4-Year Games to 4D Gambling
On August 13, 2016, within an hour of Joseph Schooling’s historic feat for winning Singapore its first gold at the Rio Olympics, punters in Singapore were lining up outside betting outlets islandwide to leverage on his Olympic record-breaking time of 50.39sec in the Men’s 100m butterfly. Who says that medalists’ record times can’t numerologically be used to divine the next winning lottery numbers?
A Grade 9 Singapore Math Question: “How many possible 4D numbers (with and without repetitions) could punters choose from Joseph Isaac Schooling’s winning time of 50.39 seconds?”
The Olympicology of Schooling
Following the mania among superstitious punters to strike it big, I coined Olympiocology topoke fun at their irrational or paranormal behaviors.
On the same day, I also tweeted: “How can Singapore experience the Schooling Effect in the aftermath of winning its first gold medal?” with a link that opens up the DIY e-card below.
August 13: Singapore’s “Schooling Day”
Sports Awards First, MilitaryService Second
Three days later, @Zero_Math, I texted: “Military rules are man-made—not cast in stone. How many Joseph Schooling’s and Fandi Ahmad’s does Singapore have?,” accompanied by the following e-card:
Should gold medalists be exempted from military service?
A Tale of Two Promoters: Vandal & Victor
On August 16, 2016, I also tweeted tongue-in-cheek another DIY e-card, comparing the notorious Michael Fey (the American teenager who was caned for vandalism in Singapore) and the glorious Joseph Schooling (whom some “bigoted” locals or Trump “patriots” claimed not to be a “true-blue Singaporean”).
When a cane brings more attention to Singapore than a coin.
Mathletes & Olympians: Mental v. Physical
Which is harder for most countries to produce: a gold medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) or at the Olympic Games?
Although differentiating mathletes and olympians might look like comparing apples with oranges, however, for a number of developed countries, it appears that the chances of their athletes bringing in an Olympic gold medal home are higher than the odds of their IMO mathletes being a gold medalist, if some of their representatives aren’t foreign-born, or if they were to rely solely on their limited pool of local talents.
Below is another e-card I produced in the aftermath of Singapore’s first ever-win of a gold medal at the Olympics.
Which Singapore values more: Olympic or IMO gold medalists?
A Guesstimation Question: In a number of highly competitive events at the Olympic Games, where victory is determined by mini-seconds or centimeters, and if winning a gold medal is arguably “60% skill, 40% luck,” or “50% talent, 50% luck,” guesstimate what percentage of gold medalists make it by pure luck rather than by sheer skill.
Count on Me, Singapore!
Can Singapore still count on Joseph Schooling for more medals? Would he prove his critics or detractors wrong in making his country proud again? What are the chances that he’d “make Singapore great(er) again”?
Let’s wish him all the best in the next phase of his swimming career! Let no one take away what he did to make Singapore and Singaporeans proud.
Commentary: Singapore sports must learn lessons from Schooling’s decline https://www.todayonline.com/node/12067716
President Halimah, govt leaders speak up against ‘negative, hurtful’ comments on Joseph Schooling’s Olympics performance https://www.todayonline.com/node/12062406
‘It’s hard to swallow’: Joseph Schooling disappointed by butterfly performance at Olympics, vows to fight harder https://www.todayonline.com/node/12056111
Golden ticket 5039 sold out after Schooling’s win http://www.todayonline.com/node/2318881
Moons ago, long before Trump’s MAGA slogan resonated among blue-collar workers and white evangelicals, I was surprised to read a parent’s guide mentioning that some American homeschoolers had mixed feelings about using foreign editions of Singapore math textbooks because of the lack of political freedom in the island-state.
No matter how value-for-money Singapore math titles are, or how impressive the “fine” city’s top ranking in both PISA and TIMSS is, some American parents and teachers would have nothing to do with a country that stifles freedom of speech, restricts political freedom, or cracks down on alternative views that often portray the government in a negative light.
Singapore is a partly free country.
This week, we read that in the new normal Singapore has fared worse than the previous year as far as political rights and civil liberties are concerned. If 50 were the passing mark, then the island-state fell short, by scoring a disappointing 48 out of 100 on political freedom.
Singapore’s Freedom in the World https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore
Selective Internet Accessibility
Less well-known is Singapore’s average performance or ranking in terms of the public’s internet access, especially when both locals and aliens thought they could easily access the internet (except for some banned websites on politics, religion, and sex, or most political blogs that don’t depict the country’s political leaders positively), compared to their counterparts in China, where Google, Facebook, and Twitter are banned.
Singapore’s Freedom on the Net https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore/freedom-net/2020
Political Freedom: Singapore vs. Others
Although we may not agree on the methodology used to compute the scores, which are calculated on a weighted scale, however, the global freedom ranking of most countries appears pretty accurate.
Let’s look at some freedom scores, by comparing how Singapore fares vis-à-vis some rich or rogue countries.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, in the aftermath of more pseudo-free nations going rogue, or more institutions paying lip service to democratic processes, I remember less than three years ago coining tongue-in-cheek “Make Singapore Free Again.”
The Fear Factor in Singapore
The Fear Factor as a Common Denominator
What are some long-term consequences for math educators living in a politically semi-free milieu? Teachers who need to seek permission from their HODs or principals to start a blog or a Facebook page; or writers who need to consult editors or publishers before they start working on a politically incorrect or irreverent math title.
When I started blogging, I still recall that those who had a say in my pay wanted me to choose a different name that doesn’t include “Singapore Math” as part of the blog’s identity. Apparently, every time they Googled “Singapore math,” they landed on my site, and they’re uncomfortable with that. I refused to compromise because I thought then (and now) that the idea of censoring or threatening me for raising some unethical practices in educational publishing is laughably ridiculous, not to say, mathematically or educationally anti-democratic.
It’s not an accident or coincidence that high-GDP Singapore has probably the lowest number of math bloggers, or the least number of math teachers on Twitter, in the developed world.
For some of us, who look like an odd in a sea of evens, the “fear factor” of speaking up and speaking out is real, even if our audience is outside Singapore. As long as we are a “mathematical or political nobody,” it’s probably safe to say that we’re at quasi-zero risk of being banned or censored, while being aware that a small army of vigilantes are watching us 24/7/365 just in case we go “politically astray.”
POFMA Math
During the lockdown, when a few Opposition candidates appeared to be unfairly targeted for their “fake” comments, I entertained the possibility that soon the authorities would be targeting math bloggers or textbook authors, who poked fun at some MOE directives or policies, by irreverently christening POFMA Math.
What are the odds that Singapore math authors would be the next to be POFMA-ed?
Poverty or Democracy
For decades, the unspoken or unchallenged political message in Singapore for Singaporeans and foreigners is: High GDP or Low Political Liberty. You can’t have both!
Why can’t your say and your pay go hand in hand? The lie that a country’s economic prosperity and political freedom are inversely proportional needs to be debunked at all costs, because failure to do so would only perpetuate mediocrity, economic stagnancy, political apathy, and uncreativity among the citizenry.
It’s an unwritten or unspoken fact that other than local Singapore parents and homeschoolers, both local and foreign math students and teachers are equally kiasu, with the extreme ones being conferred the ignoble title of “Ugly Singaporean.”
In the age of the pandemic, how would you redefine the word “kiasu” in math or math education? Below is one such attempt to relook at this Singaporean “negative trait.”
Singapore’s CPDD’s Primary Math One Textbook
Are we guilty of “mathematical kiasuism” without even being aware of it? Or we think that no one would notice it!
It’s never too late to stop and ask ourselves every now and then whether our actions (or inactions) have made us more or less kiasu.
Are we prone to rationalizing our “selfish” behaviors because after all few folks are really “hurt” or “inconvenienced” by our doings (or “wrongdoings”)? Isn’t it a thousand times easier to spot a “mathematical kiasuist” than reluctantly admitting that we’d be one ourselves, knowingly or unknowingly?
Parents are generally blamed to be super-kiasu. Teachers are über-kiasu. Students are kiasu. What about math editors, writers, or consultants? Are they less so?
For math-anxious or mathophobic folks, mathematics is more terrifying than being attacked by an army of vampires, werewolves, and zombies. For the health-conscious, Covid-19 is a thousand times deadlier than Halloween and Donald J. Trump combined. And for those on the far-left of the political spectrum, Trumpvirus is a googol times more lethal than the product of the coronavirus and Halloween. So, it looks like it depends what really matters to you to rationalize which is more frightening: Halloween, Covid-19, or Trump-45.
For conservatives or evangelicals, who recognize the dangers posed by the dark spiritual forces, Halloween is a festival of the devil, because ghosts or evil spirits are real and dangerous. How do math educators navigate through the occultic maze to leverage on a spookacular festival to promote numeracy and creative problem solving?
When Halloween is a multi-million-dollar fear-and-fun business in secular societies like China, Japan, and Singapore, math educators regardless of their religious affiliations have to recognize that Halloween is here to stay.
Yellow Halloween
When Asians too feel like celebrating a Western fright-wear festival like Halloween—the spooky business worth millions of dollars is too good to give it a miss.
The yellow Halloween provides an opportunity for rich Chinese and Japanese participants to show off their creative elaborate costumes, bringing much joy to organizers and dozens of tailors cashing in on the event.
by MathPlus November 03, 2016
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Yellow+Halloween
Let's look at a sample of Halloween math questions.
1. A Horror Movie
Thou shalt not dabble in numerology!
The screening of Covid-19 v. Trump-45 ended at 1:19 AM. If the horror movie lasted for 1 hour 31 minutes, what time did it start?
A poster outside a Singapore bookstore
2. The Ghostly Time
What is the acute angle measure between the hands of a clock at 10:31 p.m. on Halloween?
3. Horror-scope & Bat-man
#PumpkinSpice from Edel Rodriguez (@edelstudio on 19/10/17)
Today is Friday, and Trump’s numerologist tells him that he will have to drink the blood of a bat 666 days from today to continue to lead a “normal life” after he leaves the White House. What day of the week is Donald expected to do that task?
4. TrumpMath, Anyone?
5. A Grave Calculation
Not all sins or bad habits are treated equal!
Assuming that most people would live up to three scores and ten years, how long will it take before the whole world is covered in gravestones?
6. Operation Vampire
The Power of the Cross
If a vampire were to feed once a day and turn each of his victims into a vampire, show that the entire human population of the planet would become vampires in just over a month.
The Ghost Month and Halloween
Long before the East imported Halloween from the West, superstitious Asians have been celebrating their one-month-long version of Halloween, known as the “Ghost (or Seventh) Month”—a far more scarier festival than a mere evening of horror fun.
My hypothesis is: Halloween is no more than one-seventh as frightening as the Ghost Month, a festival celebrated in many parts of Asia every August or September, depending when those spiritual vagabonds from hell decided to descend on earth.
The coronavirus pandemic and the Seventh Month provide math teachers with new math terms to coin, and allow them to pose a number of deadly guesstimation problems. Below are a few of these Covid-math terms.
On August 8, 2020, @SingaporeLite tweeted the following:
Covid-👿
Corona Math: What are the odds that hungry ghosts from Hell who’d roam Earth during the Ghost or Seventh Month—Aug 19–Sep 16—are corona-proof? Besides instilling fear on superstitious folks, aren’t they also a source of infection? todayonline.com/node/8269421 #Singapore #Covid-19 👿🦠
On July 1, 2020, @SakamotoMath tweeted the following picture and text.
Happy Math-O-Ween! from @MrHonner
Corona Math: Given that the coronavirus is empowered to infect both earthlings and celestial beings, guesstimate the no. of infections among the fallen angels that colluded with Lucifer to challenge the Throne of God in the heavenlies. #Covid-19 #heaven #hell #angel #math #humor
Halloween vs. Coronavirus
Which is scarier to you: Halloween or Covid-19? How are you remembering those who would still be around if not because of the coronavirus? Is fake political leadership responsible for their premature departure to the other side of eternity? #Halloween #Covid-19 #death #leadership (@SakamotoMath on 30/10/20)
Covid-19 Goes Green
The coronavirus doesn’t discriminate against believers, nonbelievers, or agnostics—it infects or kills people of all religions or philosophies with the same intensity.
From Paranormal to Trumpnormal Distribution
Q: What do you get when you cross Covid-19 and Statistics?
A: The Trumpnormal distribution.
A “ghost distribution” from @wilderlab
Political Engineering: Stop flattening and start trumpifying the curve to open up more businesses across the US—more testings and tracings don’t win an election! #statistics #coronavirus #Covid-19 #business #lockdown #distribution #Singapore #math #infection #death #curve #humor
Coronavirus’s Nineteen Names
Just as President Trump has been conferred so many notorious titles, the coronavirus has been given all kinds of racist labels.
7. Not All Corona Prayers Are the Same!
A Shaolin Buddhist abbot can pray for a Covid-19 patient to be healed in 8 days and a Baptist bishop in 2 days. How long would it take them to get a patient who is twice as sick to fully recover, if both leaders prayed together?
Selected Answers: 1. 11:48 PM 2. 129.5° 3. Saturday 5. Over a million years 7. 3.2 days
References
Correl, G. (2015). The worrier’s guide to life. Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Lloyd, J., Mitchinson, J. & Harkin, J. (2012). 1,227 QI facts to blow your socks off. London: Faber and Faber.
Santos, A. (2009). How many licks? Philadelphia: Running Press.
Based on feedback from dozens of school teachers, editors, authors, tutors, and parents, below are ten local publishers that are known to sell thick and cheap Singapore math books, and most of them are also notorious for being indifferent or allergic to editorial, conceptual, and linguistic ills. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!
A common sight at Popular bookstores: The first three shelves are stacked with EPH math titles.
BookOne
Casco Publications Pte Ltd
EPH (Educational Publishing House Pte Ltd)
Examaid Book Publishers Pte Ltd
FBP (Fairfield Book Publishers)
Penman (Penman Publishing House Pte Ltd)
Raffles Publications
SAP Education
teachers@work (an imprint of SAP)
Success Publications Pte Ltd
Even in educational publishing, it would be naive for us to think that we could get “good, cheap, and updated” math titles. Undiscerning potential buyers continually think that most local publishers are nonprofit, which offer decent Singapore math titles with a wallet-friendly price tag, except perhaps for a few odd balls, who publish books out of passion for the subject.
Cheap Singapore math assessment books are notoriously littered with mistakes and out-of-syllabus topics, because most of these titles are ghostwritten, if not, written by reluctant editors on a payroll. And yet, undiscerning parents never fail to go for those thick, cheap (hopefully, not “cheat”) supplementary math titles, thinking that they’re getting a pretty good deal.
Bargain Hunters
It always tickles me to witness mothers flip through so many assessment books in Popular bookstores, and after that, they still opt for the thick, cheap ones.
In the early days, parents used to buy math books that were “authored” by those with a PhD, but as consumers become more educated and informed, the percentage of buyers who are still title-conscious seem to have gone down exponentially.
A publishing hypothesis based on feedback from sales and marketing personnel from publishing houses is that the sales figures of Singapore math titles by writers in academia are disappointingly low. Consumers are no longer lured by thick titles, “authored” or “consulted” by those with big academic titles.
Consultant or Con-sultant
Two consultants, five authors.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, it’s an open secret that a disturbing number of National Institute of Education (NIE) lecturers, and a few moonlighters from the National University of Singapore (NUS), who had served as profs-turned-consultants for local and foreign publishers, had their ghostwritten or consulted manuscripts rejected by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore.
Just because they have a PhD or are a tenured faculty staff is no guarantee that they‘ve the knowhow or make-up to add value to a manuscript. Or, just because they’ve been supervising trainee teachers for years or decades, or they’d published a dozen-odd papers in reputable journals doesn’t necessarily make them a suitable math consultant or general editor for a set of textbooks, which need to be MOE-approved before they’re allowed to be used in local schools.
Under-deliver and Over-promise
Two PhDs and Four Authors
At best, their cosmetic suggestions are worth less than a dime a dozen. At worst, their “inputs” had led publishers to lose millions of dollars’ worth of potential revenue due to their MOE-unapproved consulted manuscripts, not to say, missed overseas sales, in the light of growing global interest on Singapore math.
A check with textbook editors who have been in the industry for decades reveals that more often than not, local lecturers from both the NIE and NUS are “under-qualified” and “over-rated” to review manuscripts from teachers-writers, compared to their counterparts from overseas, who generally treat consulting a textbook more as an honor or a privilege rather than a quick way to boost their ego and income.
Zero Sign of Decline
The publication rate of cheap (or “cheat”) and thick supplementary math titles shows no signs of abating, nor is the number of university lecturers who secretly long to be textbook consultants or general editors going to dwindle any time soon, albeit they’ve been “warned” by the university management that they’re not encouraged to freelance or moonlight for both local and foreign math publishers. When ethics often gives in to economics, how many of them would prevent a fat royalty from obstructing an early retirement?
While the world is anxiously waiting what “Christmas (or Cliff-mas!) gift” North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has reserved for President Trump, with the two rogue leaders now having revived their name-calling game, and as the world witnesses the impeachment trial of the Liar-in-Chief, how can math educators nevertheless use the caustic and divisive political climate in the US to spice their enrichment or recreational math lessons? How can they generate some mathematical positives from the many political and moral negatives?
A few Christmases ago, I wrote Christmaths: A Creative Problem Solving Math Book, which looks at some parallels between the king of public holidays and the queen of sciences. And now thanks to Donald Trump, his narcissistic, racist, and supremacist behaviors and tweets continue to provide thousands of math teachers worldwide fertile fodder to link math to politics.
The Mathematics of Trump
For many of us living outside the US, who are agnostic about the political views of both Democrat and Republican politicians, it’s hard not to poke fun at American [Trump?] politics.
Below are a sample of published entries, which irreverently looks at some parallelisms between Trump and Math.
Meet the Pinocchio-in-Chief
From Trumpworthy Math, I went on to define two units for measuring falsehood: tru and Pinocchio.
Pinocchio
A unit for measuring how far or how much a politician, dictator, or businessperson is lying to an oft-gullible public—named after a marionette with a long nose, the picture of a dishonest person.
Trump’s denial of having sex with an adult entertainer, while his wife was still pregnant, is at least six Pinocchios.
by MathPlus October 31, 2018
Lies, White Lies, and Statistics
True or False
(a) Politifact: “76 percent of Trump’s statements were false or mostly false.”
(b) Politico: “Trump told a lie every three minutes and fifteen seconds.”
What is a Trump Number?
Below is one of the two published definitions of a “Trump Number,” which had evaded me for some time, because I just couldn’t nail down a description, without too much falsehood or exaggeration.
Based on your knowledge or readings about Donald Trump, how would you define a “Trump Number”?
The “C” Word Among Atheists and Islamists
Two Christmases ago, when President Trump boasted how he restored the spirit of Christmas among those who worship the King of kings, I coined War on Christmas.
War on Christmas
When conservatives and President Trump have had enough of the political correctness by Democrats that people should say “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas.”
President Trump is hell-bent on winning the war on Christmas, who bragged that under him Americans can now freely and proudly say “Merry Christmas”—they shouldn’t be hijacked by atheists and Islamists in sharing Christmas greetings to others.
by MathPlus December 25, 2017
And last Christmas, I christened the following:
Trumpmas
The name Donald Trump would have Christened Christmas if he could have his way—after all, every day, the media unfailingly have something un-Christian to write about him, since he miraculously became the US President.
Those working under him long for the day when Trumpmas would turn into Christmas—probably they’ve to wait until they resign or get fired by the president.
by MathPlus December 23, 2018
The Existence or Nonexistence of Santa Claus
Following the Christmas phone call between the US President and a lucky child last year, I coined the following:
And that presidential “child-unfriendly” phone call prompted me to pose the following Christmaths question:
Santa’s Proof
Santa Claus (🎅): “Children don’t exist.”
Prove or disprove whether Father Santa is correct or not.
Wrapping a Christmas Present à la Trump 🌲🎉🎊🎄
On November 13, 2017, I tweeted the following:
“Nothing” for Christmas
The Gift of Nothing: When you go shopping and could find nothing to buy as a gift for your best friend or loved ones, why not give them the gift of nothing, because nothing is not for sale? Put nothing in a big box and give it to them. #nothing #zero #gift
Last Christmas Eve, I coined Trumpgifting:
Immoral Math: Quid-Pro-Quo Math, Barr Math, and Mueller Math
With some exaggeration and irreverence, it’s not too difficult to coin some mathematical words or phrases based on how President Trump and his oft-ethically challenged administration misrule the country.
Green Math: Trump’s Climate Hoax
With Donald Trump dumping the Paris Agreement for his personal political agenda, math and science teachers could play their part in educating students about the long-term consequences of the president’s selfish unscientific decision.
Fake Father Christmas
On April 13, 2019, I tweeted the following:
Fake Christmas: What are the odds that President Trump’s hypothesis that global climate change is a hoax could speed up the first Christmas summer in the US or EU? Or when fake Xmas trees permeate the homes? #Christmas #Christmaths #weather #climate #Singapore #math #humor 🌲🔢
The Sharpie Pen and Christmas Cards 🎅 🎄 ✉️
Guesstimate how many Christmas cards (and their envelopes) you can use with a Sharpie pen.
Estimate how long a line you can draw with a Sharpie pen.
If each person sent an average of 30 Christmas cards, how long would the Sharpie pen last them? Three years?
Trump’s Greetings Cards
Last December, to resurrect the lost art of sending Christmas or greetings cards, I coined the following slogan:
Make America Greet Again
Bringing back printed greeting cards as in the good old days before the advent of e-cards —when sending personalized cards meant so much to both senders and receivers.
This festive season, Trump supporters want their president to pass an executive order to ban those working in the US government to send e-cards, as this virtual way of greetings is “robotic” and “dehumanizing”—they want to make America greet again.
by MathPlus December 02, 2018
Guesstimate how many millions of greetings cards would be sent every year in the United States if President Trump were to pass his executive order on banning Christmas e-cards.
BC & AD: Restoring Year Zero
Discuss the social, economic, and political implications if the world were to switch to a “Trumpian calendar.”
Pi Exposition
One way for math educators to poke fun at the disturbingly obscene number of ethically challenged senators in exposing their moral hypocrisy to condone or defend the wrongs of a morally bankrupt president is through the irrational and transcendental number pi.
Or, even evangelical Trump supporters voters who refused to acknowledge or right his moral and political wrongs shouldn’t be let off the hook for condoning or exonerating the sins of a “statistical president.”
Prove that the biblical value of pi, as mentioned in 1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2, is 3.
The Aftermath of Christmas
Estimate how many people each year suffer food poisoning after eating Christmas leftovers. About half a million?
Roughly how many unhappy people return their unwanted Christmas presents on Boxing Day (and come home with discounted items)?
A Christmas Gift for Trump
Let me end with two Trump-friendly entries I submitted two months ago:
A National University of Singapore’s brochure cover promoting math and art.
A fortnight ago, Center of Math (@centerofmath) tweeted the following picture:
Imagine if Donald Trump were your high school math teacher. How would he disruptively or irreverently use the above illustration to teach some “pop (or poop) calculus” to his math-anxious Liberal Arts students?
From Epstein to Trump
President Trump’s “fun buddy” of yesteryear, Jeffrey Epstein, was unverifiably a pretty good math teacher before he became a successful financier, whose sinful soul had since journeyed to that hot fiery place, on the other side of eternity, sooner than later.
And not too long ago the president who claimed to have a “genius IQ” boasted that his “favorite” daughter is very good at numbers, which indirectly implies that she must have inherited his (or his first wife’s) “mathematical gene.”
An e-card promoting the disruptive title, “If Trump Were Your Math Teacher” (2020).
A phrase that had made its way into Urban Dictionary, but had since mysteriously disappeared from cyberspace.
Trump’s Calculus
Based on the defined meanings of f(x), what could f′′′(x) represent?
For the majority of us who aren’t born or blessed with a mathematical or symbol-minded brain, but nevertheless appreciate the austere beauty of mathematics, writing about mathematics and math education is the second best thing we’d do to console ourselves that we needn’t be first-rate mathematicians to enjoy the language of science and technology, or to appreciate the science of patterns.
Some mathematicians write novels under a pseudonym to avoid any suspicion from their faculty bosses; others compose limericks and haikus as a creative outlet to showcase their hidden poetic talents. And for the rest of us who are neither novelists nor poets, maybe submitting some definitions to Urban Dictionary, by coining new mathematical words, or redefining old ones, could be the first step to activating that atrophied right part of our brain, which is allegedly responsible for creativity.
On this Pi Day, let me share with fellow math educators eleven approved definitions related to the irrational and transcendental pi. Don’t ask me how many times I got rejected and needed to resubmit some of these definitions again, before the Urban Dictionary editors decided to approve them.
Pre-Pi Day
Pre-Pi Day seems to have been serially downvoted and subsequently deleted to prevent digital abuse, because the approved entry can no longer be accessed.
Rejection isn’t failure. We keep refining or redefining any rejected definitions until the editors have zero excuses to reject the resubmitted entries. I wished I’d share some recipe for these approved pi definitions, but any attempt to offer some tips to increase a math educator’s chances of getting these math words or terms approved would probably be futile, to say the least.
Over time, although I’ve managed to reduce the odds of rejection, however, some submissions inevitably end up in the little red book of the mean editors—maybe these word doctors had a bad day, or simply because I was submitting some “mathematical crap” that caused me to receive emails like the following:
Urban Dictionary – Pi-rated was not published
Thanks for your definition of Pi-rated!
A few volunteer editors read your definition and decided to not publish it. Don’t take it personally!
Pi-rated The term to describe any faux facts about the irrational number pi.
On Pi Day, our teacher tricked us with some pi-rated math: pi is a rational number (22/7); pi has a different value on the moon that on earth; pi has a value of three in the Bible.
It’s never too late to be mathematically playful, by playing your part in submitting some irreverent mathematical definitions to enliven your math lessons.
