He sits between two mats and his qualification is ics

This has got to be one of the first riddles I've heard !!  One of my dad's favorite riddles... For those who haven't figured it out yet, the answer is mathematics.

We all might be of different religion, colour, race and gender ! But one thing unites most people... The common hatred towards a particular subject called Mathematics. 

People constantly question the use of mathematics in real life. "The only person who makes money from learning algebra is an algebra teacher" ! " Dear Mathematics, please stop thinking about your 'x' and wondering 'y' ! ", "Math was all about numbers, and Satan decided to bring in alphabet into it" and my personal favorite - " My education hasn't taught me how to pay my taxes, how to balance a cheque or how to invest in shares ! But thank God, I know how the Pythagorean theorem " ! There is so much truth in this ! Why ? Why do we learn maths? Such a useless subject ! I mean , come on man, who the hell cares ? This Newton had no better job ! He had a theory, and couldn't prove it , so he invented calculus ! 

THIS !! This is where our education system fails ! We are taught the most interesting and fun subject ever in the sickest possible way ! I believe there are subjects that one can't hate... Physics and Maths ! If anyone hates these two subjects, they had a really really sucky teacher ! Look around ! You are surrounded by mathematics ! Maths is not about solving a bunch of problems in your RS Agarwal, or RD Sharma , or Umarani and Umarani , or KSC or Grewal book !! And for all those of you who don't find maths useful in real life, this article is for you. (This is DEFINITELY not the "add friends, subtract enemies, multiply happiness and divide sorrow" sort of article.) 

Please continue reading only if you know the meaning of the following key words - Mathematical model, calculus, interpolation , functions, numerical methods, probability and statistics . Eh ! what the heck, continue reading anyways :P , You might atleast find some fun in the "nerd humor"

Our life, as i see is basically a mathematical model. Our birth and death are two discrete points on a graph ! The points connecting them is what is called life! There are maxima and minima in this curve (Read as highs and lows in life). They say, when you hit rock bottom, there is no way to go but up. In mathematical terms, the slope of the graph post a minima is always positive. People consider success as a destination , but fail to realize that it is a journey. In other words, success is a path function, not a state function. Consider you are at a point x and you want to reach point y , the shortest path to y from x is a straight line. ( Hardwork is the easiest way to success) 

Sometimes in life, you are clueless about things. You know where you are currently, and you know where you have to go , but don't know what to do next. That is when you interpolate the intermediate data from the given two end points. Preferably use hermite functions and not newtonian functions for this interpolation as the former gives a continuous and differentiable curve while the latter does not promise differentiabilty. (Ok, that one was a little extra geeky :P Curves are not differentiable when there is a drastic change in the slope, in simpler words, find a smooth path ) When life gives you a problem, differentiate it , make it into simpler solvable tiny tiny parts, solve it and then integrate these small small solutions to get the complete solution. Not many will understand the following , but it's hard for the mechanical engineer in me to shut up! Find the source of worry (discretization of the function), understand it , simplify it and divide it into smaller parts (Modelling and meshing) and then find the solution of each of the smaller problems ( determine the element stiffness matrix) and finally add up these smaller solutions .( find the global stiffness matrix and solve for the unknowns)

Sometimes , no matter how hard you try , you can't do everything. This is nothing but a normal distribution graph! No matter how far you go in the x direction, you cant cover 100% of the graph! But after chasing along the axis for a while, you do realize the 'y' doesn't change considerably ! That's when you realize the efforts that you are putting in is not worth the results! 

I have too many options to consider in life right now! I can't make up my mind... Basically, too many unknowns. Use statistical theory to reduce the number of unknowns! Use sampling theory to find the approximate solution to a problem with a Huuuge range. 

How to constantly motivate yourself to reach your goal? Let's assume you have a goal ( Read as the final reference line) and you have the point where you are right now. The curve between them is not linear but a polynomial .( Path is not a bed of roses, needs hard work and smart planning) Find a function relating initial point and the final point. ( Consider your resources, your ability and other factors and make a rough action plan). At any point p on the graph, find the error function. ( At some point , find how far you are from your goal ! you would have definitely swayed away from your path atleast a little) Evaluate the error function. ( Find out what needs to be done to get you back on track). Keep doing this till you reach your goal . 

In simple words, I have just explained how P-regulator works in control systems. You can improvise on this and make your own PI or even a PID regulator. 

I could go on and on and explain this mathematical model called life. But, I'll leave the rest to your imagination. So ,solve this problem in an argand plane :P ( If you get this, please give yourself the highest of self fives ) I conclude by saying, sometimes getting the exact analytical answer is not viable, you have to use numerical methods to get the nearest answer. ( Let's see how many of you get this analogy) I have loads to study now, so ciao :P

P.S: I am not a nerd ! I suck at maths :P ! My teachers hate me! I'm not a topper !