Sudoku is an incredibly simple and straightforward game. You have a 9x9 grid divided into nine 3x3 grids and the goal is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in each box without repeating any number in any row, column, or box. You don't need to know complicated math to solve it. And this game has given Grace Yeoh an avenue to come to terms with math and the trauma it has caused her in school.
Every adult who considers themselves artistically inclined still harbours some degree of Math PTSD—a ‘disorder’ acquired from years of internalising that they were ‘too stupid’ to grasp the basic concepts of probability, understand differentiation and integration, or calculate relative velocity when they were in school.
To be clear, we are not trying to diminish the actual severity of PTSD. But if, while reading the previous paragraph, you experienced a sudden urge to close this article because you found yourself feeling inexplicably defensive, you’re one of these sufferers. Guess what, you’re not alone.
(Image credit: Gellinger/Pixabay)
Dr. Brian May is an astrophysicist. Dr. Dexter Holland is a molecular biologist. Both are fantastic and talented musicians.
The correlation that artistic talent correlates with fear or ineptitude of math is spurious at best, stereotypical at worst.