Brain Fever - Assorted Thoughts and Articles

"Latin & Math are a match made in Elysium"

published on LinkedIn on December 20th, 2019

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"Latin and Mathematics are a match made in heaven"

On Fridays, I like to post thoughts, ideas, or opinions on LinkedIn that come a little more out of left field. This one was sparked by a conversation with my friend Dragan Drasko (at the time Channel Manager at Micro Focus)

Maybe it's the European in us, but we easily connect on many things. One of them is the value of historical knowledge and, in particular, the study of Latin.

As two complete geeks we'll challenge each other with trivia or incorporate quotes into e-mails. His last was "aut inveniam viam aut faciam", I responded with "horum omnium fortissimo sunt Belgae!"

Those exchanges bring me straight back to my High School years, when I studied Latin and Mathematics with amazing people like Tessa Van Montfort, Ellen Van de Vel, Els Jacobs, and Inge Imler (I'm sad to admit I've let them slip away over the years, even before moving to Canada). My Latin teacher, Mis Christel Geys, wa by far my favourite teacher. Latin-Mathematics was typically considered the prime preparation for a successful run through University.

People often wonder why kids today should learn an effectively dead language. "When do you even use that in real life?" Well, the answer to that is simply "every day."

Sure, there's the direct benefit of translating or deducing words from different Roman languages. Then there are the geo-political blueprints the Romans created which bring a wealth of value in the modern world. But back to Math. The kids who studied Latin generally were also the best at Math. Which makes sense because Latin, really, is math, albeit a very creative version of it. The study of that language is solving linguistic puzzles, using a set very specific rules, while allowing for the artistic flair of the author.

That is why I believe Latin is such a good preparation for a University course and a career in Science or Economics: it's not just being able to process large amounts of information, but it challenges you to think critically and connect the dots.

Dragan and I are also similar in another way: we don't just like to geek out amongst ourselves, but we love to share to geeky ideas... So, if you read this short text: thank you for letting preach another Friday Thought!