Your take: why you learned math

In his State of the Union address, President Obama conjured up the image of Sputnik, saying that we need to start investing in math and science in America in order to stay ahead. Takeaway listeners weighed in on why they were (or were not) drawn to these subjects in school. Barry Win from Brigton, Mich. said, “My parents inspired me to get involved and do well in math and science in school. Specifically my father’s belt. But eventually I loved how math allowed me to understand the world; everything from a bank balance to planetary motion. Math gives you the ‘cheat codes’ to how reality works.”