Summary
Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash, a world-famous mathlete, holds four world records, 50 Limca records and several gold medals
He chooses to share the secret behind his mathematic skills with students to drive away fear of maths from their minds
At 22, Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash has made a global mark as ‘mathlete’. Having competed in mathematics challenges since the age of five, Bhanu has established himself as a global math icon who won India’s first gold medal at the Mental Calculation World Championship, London, in 2020.
Bhanu holds four world records and 50 Limca records and has earned himself the tags of ‘World’s Fastest Human Calculator’ and ‘Usain Bolt of Mathematics’.
Bhanu has created an EdTech platform, Bhanzu, to help dispel the fear of maths. Using his understanding and skills of the subject, he hopes to leave behind a nation of mathematically competent students as his legacy.
On Pi Day (March 14), the youth icon shares some tips for learners to overcome maths phobia.
Understand the Why of Maths
There is no better way of understanding maths than to know the Why. Why has the concept been created? The ability to question the exitance of every concept is a superpower that allows one to understand maths better. Knowing and comprehending the thoughts that mathematicians had behind the concepts and theories can help demystify the subject.
Maths is an exercise for the brain
Mathematical activity is as good as physical activity. Incorporating basic calculations into everyday life can be a beneficial practice for both children and adults. The fear of maths is developed when a person is not comfortable with numbers. Through simple calculation or arithmetic exercises, numbers become a part of life.
Learners can start simply by calculating their steps, counting stairs and counting the number of floors or windows on buildings. Levelling up the arithmetic exercises can be done by repeating simple addition or multiplication functions. All these simple exercises require and heighten arithmetic competence.
Normalise and humanise maths
Linguistic skills and numeric/quantitative skills are the two skills all people use to perceive the world around them. We barely hear people say that they are scared of language but a large number of people are scared of maths. This is because language is seen as human interaction while math is not. By normalising the use of numbers and humanising arithmetic, the fear of maths can be defeated.
The onus is on educators to treat maths as a friendly subject. At the same time, he highlighted that learners can make the subject more interesting for themselves by looking into the history of the concepts. Once a student is convinced of the importance of any concept, he or she will be more willing to learn it.
Last updated on 14 Mar 2022
