Review

I'm giving tests in all of my classes on Tuesday, so Monday is review day. A review is a time to ask yourself, what is it exactly that we're doing? I find this a useful question to ask ones self as often as possible. It certainly was my guiding principle when I was managing a business project. Whenever things started to get crazy (and in advertising, things ALWAYS have the potential to get crazy) I always saw my job as boss being to stop everyone and say, "What is it that we're trying to accomplish?" This question has the almost magical effect of getting everybody thinking in the same direction. Or at least makes turf wars and nitpicking seem irrelevant.

So it seems sort of dangerous to ask that question in a math class, where the second most-asked question after, "Can I go to the bathroom?" is "What am I ever going to use this for?" But that's what makes asking it so necessary. If you can't gain a sense of perspective and meaning along with definitions and skills, why bother? I know that's asking a lot of a kid, but I feel obliged to at least ask. I'm not expecting an epiphany, but maybe a glimmer of insight.

So why learn the math? Because math is simpler than life, and math can be used to simulate all kinds of things that happen in life, except with answers. All we're doing now is creating a toolbox that can help us, well, sometime, for something. I can't really say what, because life is more complicated than math, and not only aren't there a lot of definite answers, it's also hard to know what questions to ask. The more tools you know how to use, the better the shot you have at asking and answering important questions, just like searching for meaning in a passage in history or English or Tanach can teach something about how to ask your own questions.

Well, that got heavy all of a sudden. I guess Yom Kippur will do that for a guy.