Hi,
Saw your post below. I majored in stats and econ undergrad, and finance in grad school, and did my time on Wall St. There was a lot i enjoyed about it, but it isn't exactly a passion, kwim?

But I can remember when we first learned how to drive, my friends and i used to love to pick nice neighborhoods and drive around to look at the houses (when we weren't driving around looking for 'boys'). I think i bought Architectural Digest and Seventeen (do they still have that?) at the same time. I have always had an interest in and love of design, but i can't imagine doing it for someone else. I've seen how much of it involves managing subs, billing paperwork, and, worst of all, having to do work for people with bad taste!

Just like Wall Street, no?

I am an enrolled agent, but now not actively involved in doing taxes, except our own personal & business tax returns. Managed an H&R Block for about 10 years. Found I had a real talent for those numbers and nitpicky tax laws.

I currently manage my husband's neuropsychology practice, and do all the insurance billing myself. Oh, plus I am a trainer & coach for our cognitive retraining program, which helps ADHD & memory problems.

Funny, though, I majored in journalism & creative undergrad, and have an M.A. in psychology, guidance & counseling.

And actually, my main interests & activities nearly my entire life have involved creativity and design!

I try to fight the OCD stuff as much as possible, but it doesn't always work. This kitchen renovation (currently in progress -- had my power cut once today while on GW due to electrical work) in driving me NUTS!

These days everything has numerical values. Colors have numbers.

Numerical thinking is the main reason why the modern world grew and has enabled a good life. Numerical thinking is behind public health. It is also what brought mankind to map the world and then create deeds of land and enable credit to let property be bought sold and monetized. Of course, it is what drives millions of small factory owners in foreign places.

Anthropologists have observed that those pre-literate cultures that have a lot of counting happening are those that adapt to the modern world most swiftly. They become entrepreneurs like independent truckers hauling trees to the mill. So, there is no end to applying numbers to the physical world. Everyone does it.

Thousands of years ago, the religions that put numbers on things became the biggest things going. They created ordinal numbers (things to do first, second and so on.) Then they created checklists. Then they made other numerical ways to value things.

I actually have what I guess is a weird memory for numbers. Somehow, my brain just traps them -- phone numbers, EIN's, ID numbers (not just my own). It's nothing I ever consciously worked on, but I surprised my fellow tax preparers (any myself) with that magnetic-number memory.

And then, I also have a great memory for names, once I've learned them.

I guess I've evolved?

I love math and numbers. My MBA 100 years ago had a concentration in operations research, which is basically applied calculus for business modeling. And yes, in spending hours considering nitpicky details for every decision in the remodel, I have found my metier. Who knew? If only I put this much effort into my housework...

Oh,and when I read the DaVinci Code, I got really excited when it described the Fibonacci sequence. I used to do that in my head when I was a kid, not having a clue what it was -- just a personal game in my head.

(Kids today probably don't do things like that these days, with all the computers & computer games.)

Interesting. Though I've no evidence of it from this forum, I'm guessing there also may be a sizable number of musicians among us. Or perhaps this is a really different part of the Venn diagram.

But conversely, justified or even true or not, I think it is the case that many professional designers and artists disproportionately claim an aversion to numbers. That's why I am surprised. I will, however, allow for disagreement in the characterization. For all I know the really skilled designers and artists, at least graphically-oriented artists may well lean toward numeric fascination.

Dunno; it's neither here nor there. Just struck me as surprising.

I'm a musician-turned-programmer. It's not uncommon since music theory and math and logic line up nicely. I think number people would make decent designers since they might be better able to characterize WHY a look does or does not work, since a lot of times, it has to do with proportions and symmetry.

but maybe those that are not math oriented are not answering..

Commerce grad here - definitely math/marketing stats oriented.
For me, designing a kitchen appeals to the sense of proportion, symmetry and being logical in me.

And there are probably more math oriented people who have computer jobs that make it easy to check their favorite forums all day long.

Maybe the math phobes are afraid to open this thread since the title contains the word "numbers".

I guess aliris would call these "covariates".

I am terrible at math but completely numbers oriented. I can remember dates and amounts of things like crazy.
But... I'm a completely visual too. My brain only sees pictures. (not good at conceptual ideas unless I can picture it)

So I see pictures of numbers/dates and never forget them. And I'm an artist. So there.

Weird.

For me, the kitchen design is all about the function, then secondarily about how it looks.

Having a dysfunctional kitchen is what started all this renovation for me, though it's visually & stylistically out-dated, too. I could have lived with the looks -- or just painted the cabinets & replaced the countertop & light fixtures. But the kitchen just had to have a better flow & be more user-friendly than it was. I reached the meltdown point over the holidays this past winter, with all the family here. So, here I am, now -- smack in the midst of renovation.

The bonus is that I have loved bringing my personal design sense, & likes & dislikes into the plan.

"Form follows function" is how it's said, I think.

I am NOT OCD!

I'm CDO. It's like OCD only in alphabetical order, like it should be.

eiors (not rosieo, geesh): LOL! Um, LLO!!

mcmjilly: indeed. And I like guess #1. Occum's Razor.

Let's see...Major in Mathematics, Concentration in Computer Science, and Minor in Physics. In IT my entire career, both in scientific (preferred) and business areas. [My best contracts have been NASA contracts!]

Yup! I'd say definitely "numbers-oriented"!

I am not numbers oriented but I live in the real world.

mcmjilly: Maybe the math phobes are afraid to open this thread since the title contains the word "numbers". My thought also. That is what I meant by maybe the non-math oriented are not answering...
Also we spend more time at computers.
Ph.D. in Physics here ;-)

Math/comp sci here too :)

Funny, for those of us not phobic in that way, it's hard to credit so much of an aversion to 'numbers' that you would not even open the thread' I'd think you'd be minorly curious, even. But that's the thing about swimming in your own little small pool; it's fundamentally difficult to fathom what an entirely different one might be like. Maybe you're right at that and the notion of 'numbers' so frightens some they would shun even the hint of it in a thread title.

But I still like the convenience-theory better; math types happen to be sitting at their computers more: bigger denominator, greater access. Just random musings though.

Can you tell I should be working on a work project? This is the stuff of procrastination ... and I'm needing a day-breather from House.

I always said I hated math - wasn't good at it, but for some reason every job I've ever had - part of my job duties was accounting, payroll, budget planning, charts, graphs, creating databases, etc. Even when I volunteer at church they stick me with the finances. So maybe I am, even though I say I'm not?

DH on the other hand is very numbers-oriented, and it was him who found GW (technically he's Slush - but I've taken over since starting the kitchen remodel). I thought he was a nut because he had math books in his library at home when we first started dating and career is in IT. I call him my sexy computer geek. ...that was probably TMI...huh?

I am not math or numbers oriented. I have an BA and a Masters in English, however I might be a little OCD. lol. I've been accused of it more than once. I've always loved design. When I was a kid my mom used to laugh at me when I talked about clean lines on furniture and so on. I always attributed it to my love of figurative language.

I think math and music go hand in hand, so to speak. My grandmother, who was a musician, always said they are the two disciplines that transcend language.

That being said, I majored in history and economics with a french minor and wound up in finance...so I think I fall somewhere in the middle :)

Years ago we had a what do you do thread with no scary "number" word in the title. A large proportion of the responders were in computers past or present, but considering this medium that isn't surprising. I'd also expect to see a lot of humanities type people here because they tend to be good at typed speech.

I'm polymathic. I do love numbers, used to tutor math and was a programmer in a previous life, but I'm even more into language and the arts. It makes me giggle to no end that all sorts of people are paying good money to complete Latin Squares, with a cute, Japanese name, when they used to beg me to fix theirs in school. :)

I don't think you have to be numbers oriented to be analytical, though I don't think you can be numbers oriented without being analytical. It seems to me that an analytical approach to problem solving is more precisely what we TKO have in common.

We're not the problem clients who go to the KD saying they want a light kitchen, when what they really mean (though they don't know it until 3 months and 8 complete plans later) is that they want white counters with their dark floors, and cherry cabinets.

No, I am not disproportionately numbers-oriented, but if I has to guess I would say the proportion is about 82.35%. :-)

Billy

I have to admit to being a mathlete in my day :) Dh teases me about it because he was a jock....
I do a lot of math in my head and rarely use a calculator in daily usage. I am great with stats, fractions, and numbers in general and am invaluable near sales racks as I can deduct multiple discounts in split seconds, lol.
I am very driven by words and colors too. I guess I am a total geek if you get right down to it ;)

I was good at math and enjoyed it until I got to trig and got a new teacher in the middle of the year. Dropped the class, tested out of the core requirement in college and never took another math course. Started wishing I'd taken stats when I started practicing law. My specialty was business reorganizations/bankruptcy -- lots of numbers. However, all my undergrad and post practice life have involved the arts. My sons are both in choir and band-- one is also a science kid.

B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in health/life sciences fields.

I teach research methods and basic stats plus other majors courses. So, yes, I have to read a lot and tend to overanalyze.

Aliris,

"I've seen how much of it involves managing subs, billing paperwork, and, worst of all, having to do work for people with bad taste!"

While investment bankers have become persona non grata, i do have to say i found it a career blessedly free of management tasks (BSDs are corralled, not managed) and paperwork (nothing unnecessary, and not all of what was necessary, either) and bad taste (bad judgment, yes, bad tatse, not really!).

I love numbers, although I probably couldn't get through graduate-level advanced math courses if I tried. I'm a big believe in science as well, especially natural sciences like physics and chemistry.

I graduated with an econ degree (Go Cal!) and I'm still working for the same company since then. My daily work life is all about risk models, portfolio construction, econometrics, VaR, etc. I guess that makes me a numbers person.

Perhaps the best examples of being a numbers person:

1. I helped my mom do her taxes, which included her business at the age of 15. It was enjoyable.. (!)

2. I keep an Excel file of every single reoccuring expense, and withdrawal/debit from my checking and savings account... since 2005.

3. When I look at the world around me, I see math problems and equations. For example, when I see an electric wire hanging between two poles, I think of a hyperbolic cosine function describing the curvature.

Heh heh. :P

I guess I would have to admit to being numbers-oriented. Have always loved Math, and have both a BA and MA in it. My kids seem to have inherited the Math gene, as well, and at least two of my three grandchildren have, too. (With the 17-month-old, it is too soon to tell.)

One of my favorite tales of my kids' childhood is about a hike we were on years ago when my son was at most 3 years old. We were keeping him occupied by having him do math problems in his head (which he would do by counting up). How much are 2 threes; how much are 3 fours, etc. I asked him how much 3 fours were and he counted up and gave me the answer. Then I asked him how much 4 threes were, and he looked at me with this incredulous look, and essentially indicated that I was pretty stupid if I didn't know the answer was the same thing as it had been for 3 fours! At the time I was teaching HS Algebra and having a hard time convincing students that AxB was the same as BxA. Yet the 3-year-old who didn't even know what multiplication was had already figured that out!

I love Math and did teach it for several years, but hated being a disciplinarian, so gave it up and went into doing income tax. I've been doing taxes for over 30 years and have had my own business for 24 years.

And then there's the physicist who sat the baby's toy on its head and asked, "Can you say inverted?"

So far I see a lot of advanced degrees (Money to put into kitchens? lol), some people with genetic math ability, and admissions of OCD. Only one person says she has had a specific interest in houses and design since high school.

I've made houses of blocks and with crayon on paper since I was a small child. I was insecure following my parents divorce. I think I was making a home *I* could control.

My mother was a pioneer *female* RE broker. An aunt by marriage was an interior designer. I was surrounded by houses and design -- the full range from 'Beautiful and Functional' to 'What Were They Thinking?'.

I am a math-phobe. My major was journalism. I've been a "Crusader" for some "Causes" over some of my life. I'm quieter now, but still writing letters to newspapers! I love the Wisdom of Crowds exhibited on these forums.

I am functionally innumerate [i.e., in its eagerness to see the back of me, my alma mater allowed me to graduate with NO math] but have been acutely aware of the the proportions and lighting of interior spaces forever.

Chisue, I think it's the nature of the question. I loved poring over floor plans as a kid (and still do), and took my first interior design course in high school (following many artistic design courses before). We do have some professional interior designers in the forum, but they might not be motivated to join this thread. (I do design consulting, but am not a licensed and qualified interior designer.)

I'm not sure what I am, other than a real mixture. I have excelled at math but am very creative. Prolly misses my real calling along the way...

Economics and geography majors in college. Ended up in retail management and from there became a sales rep in the home decor, gift and art supply industries.

Now mostly retired but enjoy my painting and continue to redo my home. And I love people!

Nancy

Gratuitous comment here: This is totally fascinating (to me at least). Thanks, all. Do please keep weighing in.

And look at that ... kitchendreaming's contention that the title of the thread was just off-putting seems to be playing out impressively. Link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to sister thread

Words cannot express how much I hate math and numbers! I actually think I am learning disabled in math but was never tested b/c it wasn't done at that time in my area. My son is actuallly diagnosed LD in math. I have never been good in math though I was always placed in and suffered through advanced math courses b/c I am generally smart overall. However, I was okay in geometry and trig. and did really well when studying mathmatical logic and also statistics.

My clearest memories about third and fourth grades are the timed tests on multiplication in third grade and also having to stand in front of the room doing times tables while being timed. In fourth grade, it was the fractions! Why did we have to learn those stupid fractions!! These are actually not memories but nightmares that haunt me still.

I remember being fascinated when I was young by my mom who could take the percentage off of something on sale in the store then calculate and add the tax back all in her head.

I am very visual. To this day when I am adding fractions, even for recipes, I have to visualize a pie in my head broken into sections then add or subtract those sections. I don't remember numbers though my mom and sister can remember phone numbers from years ago.

My mom said I actually learned subtraction before addition and division before multiplication. Backwards! I think it took me four tries to get out of remedial math in college.

Anywho, my whole life I wanted to be an architect. My grandfather even built me a drafting table when I was 8 or 9. I could read floorplans and draw basic ones at that age. My favorite hobby was driving around looking at houses. I also bought floorplan magazines from around the age of 10. When I got to high school, I started realizing that b/c of the math that might not be the right career choice for me and being a chicken backed out.

I entered college majoring in Interior Design. After some different life altering changes, I ended up with a Bachelor of Science in off all things....Agribusiness (don't ask!), but I still have a minor in interior design, family and consumer sciences, Ag Econ, etc., etc. I am also one course shy of being certified to teach biology and special education.

However, I currently worked in public health in vector borne related diseases and have to use math most everyday. I am good as long as I have all of my formulas handy otherwise, I am in trouble.

My dream is go to back to school and get an advanced degree either in religious history, middle eastern studies, public policy, or a few other options, I can't decide. This is my true passion and what I read about and study every minute that I am not on GW or working or being with my family.

I still loves houses and design but only for myself. I still do some decorating (not design) on the side for friends, but I don't enjoy it anymore when doing it for others.

Shannon

In my previous life I was the Director of Finance for an pocket-protector engineering firm. Now I teach excel, personal finance, accounting and computer tech stuff. I prefer numbers that mean something and have a purpose. The pocket-protectors were great but high school kids are sooo much more entertaining. The water balloon senior prank today would have never, ever, ever happened at the firm! I feel inspired, perhaps I'll prank the engineers ;)

I'm into quantum mechanics, but I can't do the math so I have only a limited conceptual appreciation. Married to a pilot though who is as precise a person as I've ever known, so I think that gives me some kind of honorary degree.

I suffered math anxiety from third grade on. Notice how I write third instead of 3rd? Numbers, Ugghh!
I am the classic autodidact. I taught myself to read when I was five. I taught myself to read musical scores at 13. I think I am equally visual and verbal. Excel at spatial relationships. I can draw plans in my head, and started filling pads with house desings at 14. Have no gift for languages, except to mimic pronunciations. Possess perfect relative pitch/pitch memory. Play three instruments, badly, but I persist. Cannot memorize music or any complex linear progressions.
In spite of math anxiety, at 21 I figured out trig by myself with a booklet that accompanied a scientific calculator. I just saw how the relationships worked, and it made sense. Why could no teacher ever teach me in a classroom?
Casey

In my formal education I went back and forth between fields dominated by males and fields dominated by females. I'm comfortable in both. It all started with my ancestors; a long story. So, like, umm, I took a language course as an interest, then a summer course, then a bit more, and I got a scholarship to study in a foreign language in a foreign country, and I ended up over there in courses on Linguistics of all kinds, Languages too, Art History, you name it. And I continued that here when I came back. Totally the opposite of math, IT, and engineering where I ended up again a few years later. Today all these fields I studied can combine well, but not way back when the fields were all still young and trying to be compartmentalized.

My first IT courses used punch cards. To typeset my "resume" I used a terminal that had access to the college president's printer, and I routed it over there. First time anyone tried that. Basically, I did the university thing about three times, got a few degrees, and along the way worked in varied and interesting jobs before I was 25, usually coordinating promoting and ferreting out newsworthy research results or people. Since then I've done stuff too but nothing I'd like to reveal now. I've *always* worked in fields that I didn't study in; I'm not typical enough to fit the form in those fields that you can get degrees in. I have no idea where my career will be in a couple years from now; I'm confident it will springboard off the work I'm doing now.

Numbers and math are a means to express concepts. Concepts are bundles of distinctions. Distinctions are... well, to be fair to the sister thread, I'll have to post on that one too now. Expressing distinctions is something they do in the Humanities...

I am a mix. I have a B.A. in English Literature and love to read. I am a tax attorney, so my work combines numbers, logic, analytical skills and writing (but not creative writing). I have always been good at math, and have been obsessed with numbers since childhood. As a child, I always had to count items, like a bunch of ballons in a store. I also have an odd habit of counting the number of letters on a sign and then thinking about the ways the letters can be divided (e.g., 24 letters can be broken into 2 sequences of 12, 3 sequences of 8, 4 sequences of 6, etc.) Clearly, I also have obsessive compulsive tendencies.

I find function to be important, but form seems to come first. However, form is more math than art to me because I am obsessed with symmetry, even if it impairs function. I have seen asymmetrical designs that I like, but I cannot create them myself.