Many people around the world face a severe problem in learning science and math. This seems to be especially so in the U.S. American students lag behind their OECD counterparts (and even some counterparts in less developed countries) in science and math proficiency by a large amount. We often lament at the importation of cheap STEM workers on programs like the H1B visa, which in turn often put Americans out of work. While those abuses should be reformed, we also need to ask more of ourselves. True Glory won’t be gained by letting our skills deteriorate, or even worse, not attempting to build new ones, throwing up our hands in frustration instead.
I know how many of you feel when it comes to learning math and science. My story was typically American. Throughout my entire life as a student, I could never seem to wrap my head around the topic. I would get so frustrated that all of my desires to succeed were sapped. I would often fail on purpose because I just didn’t care. I don’t think I passed a single math test since 7th grade, but I managed to squeak through to college anyway (that’s a long, troublesome, and arduous story). I didn’t plan on doing something math or science-related for my own career anyway, so I figured, it wasn’t a problem.
Yet, it was a problem, because lagging math scores dragged my own GPA down further than it needed to be. That matters a lot when you’re applying to colleges.
Moreover, as I remarked before, going to college is often a waste, especially without a STEM degree.
Basically, if you want to pursue the standard route that society says you should pursue (e.g.: going to college), some kind of STEM degree, and the required math and science skills, are most likely advisable. You’ll also need to be up to snuff in math as a student to increase your chances of getting into a good university (lest your GPA be dragged down).
Moreover, if you want to increase your critical thinking and analysis skills, a knowledge of math and science is essential. Those same critical thinking and problem-solving skills that you’ll utilize in figuring out scientific events are the same skills you’ll utilize in business, long-term planning, personal finance, and time management.
So, how do you increase your knowledge in this area without banging your head against the wall?
The answer stumbled upon me in the most unexpected place.
In 2010, I joined a forum called the Outskirts Battledome. This forum, with its own extensive database, was dedicated to the seemingly absurd hobby of hammering out who would win in a hypothetical battle between two characters that had never met, such as Batman vs. Halo’s Master Chief.
Sounds stupid, right?
And yet, aside from providing me with a business opportunity, the Outskirts Battledome also expanded my mind.
No, I’m not talking about any drugs, sure impediments on the road to True Glory. I’m talking about how this hobby finally allowed me to make some sense of math and science – physics, specifically.
That’s because in order to figure out who would win, the community there does a ton of calculations – critically and carefully examining feats the character (or other object) in question performs, and then trying to derive a number – usually a speed or energy value.
You’ve all seen this feat before, I’m sure.
Did you know that because of the way that Alderaan’s mass was scattered, the Death Star’s main weapon (due to conservation of energy) would have had to have packed an order of magnitude more power than the energy it would take to destroy Earth?
Or how about this ending from a famous movie?
How fast would that be? How energetic?
Many of the things you see in fiction, which you thought were purely the stuff of fantasy, hardly are. They can often be understood in concrete scientific and physical terms. In other words, many of these things could theoretically happen in the real world. Others can’t, but they can certainly be thought about as being plausible.
That’s because our stories ultimately come from us. Because our stories come from us, we perceive them as obeying the scientific rules we ourselves obey, even if we stretch them a little (or a lot). Science and mathematics comprise the truly universal language, which Carl Sagan said would allow us to communicate with extraterrestrial life. That language certainly seeps in our stories, and so all stories can be said to be bilingual.
The reason why so many people – kids and adults alike, don’t do well in math and science is because of the way it’s taught to us. Abstract and removed from ordinary human experience by themselves, it’s imperative that the subjects be broached in a recognizable, attention-grabbing way. Masculine Epic readers will know by now that persuasion is largely based on memory and presentation. If you don’t present your topic in a way that is captivating and memorable, you won’t persuade, and your listener won’t retain what you wanted him to focus on.
Learning Science From Superheroes is a book that will redefine the way you learn math and science, all the while increasing your critical thinking skills in related areas.
- The way the subjects are presented to you will resonate, as the science and math will be entertaining, made to help you figure out something cool instead of something that bores you.
- You will redefine how you see scientific and mathematical concepts, as they’ll be framed to you in a new way – through the guise of the characters and series you love.
- Your entertainment will overcome any resistance you have in learning the new concepts. As the topic will be fun, you won’t want to escape, unlike your typical math or physics class.
Learning Science From Superheroes will be out soon. My current plans are for a Halloween release.
Bonus:
How powerful is Donald Trump’s robot? How fast is it? Do you know? I do.
