A- It gets harder as time passes and we learn more. For every thing that we learn about math, there are at least two new necessary concepts presented, which are even more difficult to understand than the last. Total understanding is always just barely out of reach-- and for some people, like myself, who process things carefully and think through things more slowly than the norm, it tends to be pretty far out there-- not just barely but by a high degree.
Q- "Do you like or hate math and why? (before Booker T and after); How can math education improve?"
Like I said, it's not like most other things, which become easier and more pleasurable as we progress. Instead it only becomes more complex. This makes it unusually frustrating, as it always has been for me. However, that only makes it all the more pleasing when I do get something right or master a new aspect of the subject. It has a special kind of satisfaction to it. That being said, I have always had sort of a love-hate relationship with math. But because of the high expectations placed on my head by both parents and peers, I have always found myself leaning more to the 'hate' side of the line. If the educational system were more patient with the needs and unique paces of individuals, math would be a much less nervewracking thing for the students to work through and accept as a part of life.
Q- "Do you think math is important for 'artists'?"
Only minorly. While many would like to take the 'intellectual' route and say, "Yes, most certainly! Musicians count, dancers measure, painters use perspective!", I have to admit that my true opinion is quite contrasting. Musicians do count, but probably on a first grade-esque level if anything, to be honest. Also, it is something done almost entirely in the subconscious. Dancers do measure, but to my knowledge, not always precisely nor extensively. I would go into more detail about this, but because I've had limited experience with dancing and it is not my area of expertise, it would be hard and fruitless to explain my views on its mathemetics. Visual artists do use perspective, but again, it is something that one tends to put into place by way of guidelines which seem aesthetically correct; in addition, of course, simply to close daily observation of the way the world appears around us. The only career that comes to mind in which precise calculations are necessary relating to art is if one wishes to be a construction worker or designer. But, while the ideas behind the making of those things are certainly an artistic affair, it is debatable just how artistic at heart the profession truly remains once you get into the measuring and constructing aspects themselves... and etc. It is a belief of mine that the purest and most spiritual form of art is not made in calculated perfection by human standards, but rather as the soul guides the hand to do what it feels to be right. When an individual can look at something which he or she has created and be at peace with their work, whether or not the world agrees with him or her, then it can truly be considered a masterpiece.
[A thought: Perhaps I do not enjoy math, because equally, I do not like to be told I'm wrong. I have the feeling that this may be true for young minds all over the world.]
