Happy Pi Day, 3/14, (math sucks)

Today marks the twenty-second annual Pi Day, named in recognition for the calendar date that matches pi to the second decimal place. The celebration began at a San Fransico based museum called the Exploratorium where visitors marched in a circular procession and ate fruit and pizza pies to mark the day. True geometry fans may also take note of Pi Minute and Pie Second, occurring at 3/14 1:59 and 3/14 1:59:26.

The public may choose to recognize Pi Day in any number of manners. There’s marching in circles with a bunch of fellow dorks. There is eating pies and pizzas. You can go for a 3.14 mile hike or jog. Commit minor to major  with pi inspired graffiti in public spaces. Get the "American Pie" song stuck in your head (you’re welcome, reader). Watch the independent film Pi and congratulate yourself for growing out of your snide art film phase.

All of these activities are equally irrelevant to the mathematical principal of pi or basic geometry, and a great way to celebrate how unimportant basic math is for the average citizen. I, for one, use Pi Day as a yearly reminder of just how wrong my public school math teachers were in their earnest insistance that an understanding of math would be critical to adult life. March 14 reminds us all of what magnificent splendor the world is full of when we remember to ignore mathematics entirely. Art, love, spirituality, beauty, prime time television sit-coms, these are the important things in life. Math sucks.