On the more practical level of analyzing its importance, having sound mathematical skills makes us a better entity in the many dimensions of our social existence. During pre-school and elementary years, the simple skills of addition and subtraction trained us to gradually gain independence from our parents. It trained our minds to handle the simplest problems we encountered from our day-to-day interaction in the society. It equipped us with the necessary mental kit for a smooth integration and subsequent adaptation to social activities that mostly, if not all, involved computing and quantifying, like buying a candy or a chocolate. At the latter stage of our lives, mathematical skills gain more importance. As we grow old, we face more difficult problems that are both personal and social in context. As such, the need to make sound judgments is more amplified. We cannot all the time be emotion-based in making decisions. Actually, most situations we face in our adulthood years require logical and objective ways of dealing. Where else can we get that competent training for logical thinking and critical analysis but through the math courses we have undergone through the years.

But we have to make something very clear here. We need not be like the great masters, Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton to attain that level of confidence in objectivity and logical soundness in decision making. We can be competently rational enough through comprehension of the basic concepts of mathematics. We need not come up with new paradigms of mathematical systems to ascertain our logical powers, though it certainly will be a great feat if you can. We just have to attain a good level of comfort and aptitude in handling various math problems and constantly practice the skills we are already equipped with.