Calculus Advantage

Even if you got 100% for Maths in the nation-wide high-school-leaving examination, you may not be allowed to study any Maths at the Burmese universities in my days. Strange, awkward, but true and sad.

So when I read in Singapore in the early 2000's that if you knew Calculus

1. You can calculate how much paint you would need to paint an awkwardly-shaped floor.
2. You can calculate how far you can raise your price until some customers start leaving.
3. You can calculate many other real-life meaningful stuffs.
4. etc, etc,

I became excited.

So I started asking around among my colleagues: "Hey, are you okay with Calculus?"

Everyone answered "Yes, we are fine with Calculus," as I expected since I knew all of them are Engineering or Computer Science grads.

As I half-expected, none of them was using Calculus in their daily lives.

I also started asking young kids when I visited my Myanmar friends' families living in Singapore.  They also told me, "Uncle, Calculus is very easy. We never have any problem with that."

As I half-expected, none of them was using Calculus in their daily lives.

I studied Shakespeare, anthropology and many other such weird stuffs. I admit those stuffs are weird. I don't think anyone can sincerely say that Calculus is weird.

Why did ONLY Steve Jobs use Shakespearean scholars in designing Apple products?

Why did ONLY Xerox, IDEO etc use anthropologists in designing and trouble-shooting their products?

Why did Sprint's CEO say that Softbank brings to them expertise in "how to utilize (some) technologies"?

I cannot teach Calculus. But I know how to use it in certain places. I can teach Shakespeare and I do know how to use it in certain places. I can teach Poetry and I do know how to use it in certain places.

Why not teach that to your kids?

Oh, by the way, I can teach them excitement, too!