Why Mathematics Is Unpopular

Mathematics is highly abstract and thus generally attracts only Ni and T types

Mathematics, in particular pure mathematics such as abstract algebra and analysis, is a discipline of ideas. As such, it is not much unlike philosophy. (One observes, in fact, that many mathematicians, from today as well as times past, are philosophers as well.) It is a subject that is best described as the theoretical study of structure, order, and patterns, as well as the study of the logical consequences of objects that are defined with certain properties.

The nature of mathematics necessitates an indifference to whether its ideas have applications to the real world. Since 75% of the United States population are oriented to what is perceivable, it follows that the characteristic disdain of mathematics is not due to mental deficiency. Rather, it is a consequence of one's personality type. This is a fortunate notion, for it implies that anyone can do mathematics. By virtue of having a brain, practically anyone could engage in a serious study of the subject. However, many of the personality types orient people away from mathematical abstraction.

Math is not cool

Math departments in universities all over the United States have posters saying, "Math is cool," but they're wrong. The only reason they have to say it is because they and everyone else knows it's false. Math is intrinsically difficult to talk about. It takes a lot of time and training to get to know what the symbols mean and the idioms of the field, and even then, talking about new mathematical ideas requires a great deal of patience.

Thus math does not provide a way to interact with people in a quick, easy-to-understand way. It has little to offer for extraverted interaction. For example, math is not cool, and so cannot provide much appeal from an extraverted sensation standpoint. So you have a proof of Lagrange's theorem? How many people can respond to that? Compare a good proof to a crazy haircut. Which gets more attention among the general population?

An extraverted arena where math has an important role

There is, however, one area where math provides an extraverted payoff: making calculations where something tangible is at stake. Applied math gives you a way to define promises that you can make, and to determine which promises you can deliver on, and even, to some extent, how much it will cost to deliver. This doesn't make math cool, but it does make it very appealing from the perspective of Extraverted Thinking.

Could math become cool?

Math could become cool, but it would only be temporary. For example, it could be cool to work on weird and wild topological ideas that make really cool-looking pictures. Fractals were sort of cool for a while. Whenever math becomes cool, though, it's only temporary. When math becomes cool, that's because some mathematical development has happened that yields some easily perceivable result that triggers feelings of excitement in people who do not understand much about math. The newness and excitement soon pass.

Change the name

This is going to be too Ni, even for me, but here goes:

A big problem with math is the pre-conceived attitude people have towards it. It's like...fiber. You know how these days people are trying to be "proud" of their fiber-consciousness? It's a nice try and there are many good reasons to be fiber-aware, just as there are many good reasons to be math-aware, but it's still swimming upstream. Math is always going be uncool, just like fiber.

So what to do? Change the actual NAME from math to something else. Like..."metanumerics" or something awful like that. Then people will start to buy into it, just like people have started buying into environmentalism since they branded it "eco awareness" (uhhhhh).

Good math people are just too honest for marketing (which is so utterly, utterly rife with bullshit), so they'll probably never stomach doing this. But it'll work a hell of a lot better, I think, then trying to get rappers to promote math on Sesame Street. That's just plain wrong.

Hypothesis: This is actually Se

Here's why changing the name might illustrate an Se attitude rather than Ni: Because it's bending to the limitations of what people in the culture will pay attention to right now. It adapts to what is perceived as cool. Adapting to (limiting oneself to what's possible within) the present cultural situation: extraversion; making appearance into the primary factor: extraverted sensation.

An Ni attitude would lead one to attend to how this choice of name will likely distort people's understanding of math and possibly shape future research directions.