I have a friend who loves math. It just makes sense to her, and she likes to figure out all the complex problems that we solve in our math class. I, however, am more wired toward literature. I like thinking through questions about the theme of a story or what caused what events. Both math and literature are useful in their own ways, but sometimes I wonder, which one is truly easier?
Many people would say that a perk to math is that it only has one answer. With most math problems, if you solve it step by step, remembering all of the rules, you will come to the same conclusion that other people will. However, this is usually where I have issues. For some reason, I find it impossible to recall all of the rules and steps you’re supposed to take. And, to make matters worse, if you miss one step, or mess up a simple math fact, it can change your entire result.
Although, I have to say that it’s nice that, if I do understand the problem, I can just systematically work through it until I have an answer. You don’t have to think super deeply, or struggle to formulate an answer. If you know how to, answering the math problem can be fairly struggle free. I can’t say the same for some literature questions.
The main problem with most literature questions is that there is no hard and fast answer. It depends more on how you perceived the story, rather than rules or a system to finding a sure answer. There is no hard and fast way to reach a conclusion with most of those questions.
The funny thing is, the exact thing that some people don’t like about those questions, is one of the reasons that I like literature. In math, if you get an answer wrong, there isn’t much space to debate your side. The answer is solid, with no gray area. With literature, you can argue for your answer. I like that there is room for everyone to end up with different answers. Twenty people could read the same story, but get ten different messages from it.
So the nice thing about math is that it only has one answer, but the problem is that it has only one set answer. The problem with literature is that there is no hard and fast way to answer, but the advantage is that there is room for debate about which answer is correct.
I will always find math more difficult than literature, but maybe that’s just my inclination. They both have their perks and setbacks, and it would be hard to say that one was for sure harder than the other. Neither are perfect, and both have their flaws. However, I’d still have to say that literature is my preference. See you next week!
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