As I boy, I often found refuge in the open window of a middle school math class. This was where I could focus my attention while the teacher went off on a fitting tangent. Most adults look fondly on their geometry days, before calculus and other high-level courses.
I, naturally, do not.
Am I glad I learned many shapes I can incorporate in my daily life? Possibly. But the number of times I use parallelogram, trapezoid, or rhombus are nothing compared to the sleepless nights staring at the ceiling wondering why anyone ever came up with the term, “nonconcave.” Initially it vexed me that they were seemingly incapable of simply saying “convex.” But then I thought a bit more about it and realized that there’s a liberating opacity to a word like nonconcave. It’s a way of getting at something in a less harsh, still accurate way.
You’re not stupid anymore, you’re nonsmart. No one is fat, just nonskinny. Starting to get the picture? You don’t have enemies, but nonfriends. You’re not poor, only nonrich. It’s nonhard to understand.
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