My kitchen conversation

In one of my kitchen conversations, I found out that Haiyang was a mathematics major in college.  We talked about it for a bit.  I confess, I was never a good math student and found every opportunity to run away from it.  

But I guess the beauty of mathematics only shows itself to its most patient students.  

The true beauty of math.  Take your time and go through it slowly.  

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321



1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111


9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

This was interesting, right?

Now take a look at the beauty of these proportions below.

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Now maybe this is worth thinking about.  It will be fun.

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Equal to:
1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 

Is hard work enough to achieve a happy and prosperous life?
Hard work
H+a+r+d+w+o+r+k=8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11= 98%

Will knowledge make us fully successful in life? 
Knowledge
K+n+o+w+l+e+d+g+e=11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5= 96%

How about love?
Love
L+o+v+e=12+15+22+5= 54%

I always thought that knowledge and hard work are the most important elements of a happy and prosperous life.

What will get us to 100%?  

Money? 
Money
M+o+n+e+y=13+15+14+5+25= 72%

This is not enough either.

So what do we need to get to the top and the 100%?

Attitude
A+t+t+I+t+u+d+e=1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5= 100%

Yes, Attitude.  It is that little thing that makes a huge difference, in love, in work, in knowledge and more important, in life.

Perhaps, Albert Einstein was right, pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.  I guess Professor Einstein had the right attitude about math and life.   

I will not take credit for putting together the arithmetic operations in this email, but I am beginning to like mathematics more and more. I suppose my attitude is changing about math, thanks to Haiyang for the poetry of logical ideas, and a valuable life lesson at our very own kitchen.