12. The Confusion of Mathematics
Insight: The questions of life may not disappear. Change the perspective, and the question itself will become the answer.
A mathematics teacher asked a student, “Son, if I give you one apple, and then I give you two more apples, how many apples will you have in total?”
The student immediately answered, “Four.” “Son, think carefully before answering. First listen to the question properly.”
The teacher asked the same question again. Once again, the student replied, “Four.” The teacher then asked, “Son, which fruit do you like?”
“Orange,” the student replied. “So, if I first give you one orange and then I give you two more, how many oranges will you have?”
“Three.” The teacher was pleased and praised the student. Then he asked the same question again about apples. The student answered, “Four apples.”
The teacher got angry and started scolding, "Why aren’t you able to answer such a simple question!” As he was about to scold even more, the student took an apple out of his school bag and showed it to the teacher. “Sir, today my mother gave me one apple for my snack. So the total would be four apples, would it not?”
The teacher paused. Immediately, he thought, “Without knowing why he was saying four, I became irritated unnecessarily. An answer that appears wrong may also be right. What was needed was a change in my perspective.”
When someone behaves differently from what we expect, taking the perspective of first understanding the reason makes life balanced.
Resolve: When I receive an answer different from my view, I will not resist immediately. I will first understand the reason.
Before correcting the answer, understand the world from which it came
12. The Confusion of Mathematics
Insight: The questions of life may not disappear. Change the perspective, and the question itself will become the answer.
A mathematics teacher asked a student, “Son, if I give you one apple, and then I give you two more apples, how many apples will you have in total?”
The student immediately answered, “Four.” “Son, think carefully before answering. First listen to the question properly.”
The teacher asked the same question again. Once again, the student replied, “Four.” The teacher then asked, “Son, which fruit do you like?”
“Orange,” the student replied. “So, if I first give you one orange and then I give you two more, how many oranges will you have?”
“Three.” The teacher was pleased and praised the student. Then he asked the same question again about apples. The student answered, “Four apples.”
The teacher got angry and started scolding, "Why aren’t you able to answer such a simple question!” As he was about to scold even more, the student took an apple out of his school bag and showed it to the teacher. “Sir, today my mother gave me one apple for my snack. So the total would be four apples, would it not?”
The teacher paused. Immediately, he thought, “Without knowing why he was saying four, I became irritated unnecessarily. An answer that appears wrong may also be right. What was needed was a change in my perspective.”
When someone behaves differently from what we expect, taking the perspective of first understanding the reason makes life balanced.
Resolve: When I receive an answer different from my view, I will not resist immediately. I will first understand the reason.
Before correcting the answer, understand the world from which it came
