Declaring a “better” or “harder” major is silly, but business is “intuitive” and requires less thought than majors based in mathematics.Majoring in engineering, my scope is narrow, but I’ll do my best to include other math-intensive majors, like physics and computer science.The three listed majors require between 19 and 21 hours of math courses. Business majors have to take at most six. These are just numbers to people who haven’t taken the classes.The two math classes taken by business majors are college algebra and business calculus. The 19 to 21 hours for math-intensive majors are three sections of calculus and one class called differential equations.Business calculus is so named just as Bud Light is named — add a bunch of water to Budweiser, and you have Bud Light.It shouldn’t have a completely negative connotation — a mechanic doesn’t need to know the atomic composition and properties of the bolt he turns. Granted, he would be a better mechanic by knowing it — knowledge is power. If finance, accounting and economics majors would have to take full calculus, some trends might develop — fewer students in those majors (a topic for another column) and more skilled observers of finance.Calculus, to me, is the point of mathematics. It takes subjects learned in previous classes, puts it together, applies it and even explains why and how some of it works. Take a daily activity, and I’ll show you there’s calculus involved. Yielding to math teachers, it really is the fabric of the universe.Because of this, the math-intensive majors rely completely on math to prove their observations are more than really common coincidences. Math makes science what it is — not arbitrary guessing about why and how things happen.Calculus is not an easy transition from algebra or trigonometry. Calculus discusses the concept of the infinitely small and the slopes of curves. These are some of the ideas that drive some engineering majors out and into concentrations that aren’t as challenging.Granted, not everyone needs to know how to integrate crazy functions that scare little children, so there are naturally jobs and subsequently majors that are essentially not math-based.Scientists easily and commonly get caught up in research, design or ideas, and they need an external prospective of complete ignorance to highlight mistakes and over-complications. This is where management majors can come in and straighten out us “thinkers.” Engineers and scientists are not the epitomic “people-persons,” and some of them should be kept as far from the majority of other humans as possible. This presents what would be an isolated source of progress for science and society, but business people can bridge the gap between complex scientific theories and the rest of the world. The bridge makes technology available and relatively affordable to the not-so-technically educated masses.Don’t get me wrong — there are plenty of smart engineers and scientists that have excellent people skills. They tend to move toward management and administrative positions. Both fields face problems, and employers compensate employees to solve these problems. Determining which type of problem is “harder” is silly. “Hard” is a subjective adjective that varies for each person. Some people like to use math and physics to solve problems, some to resolve interpersonal conflicts, some to sell products, etc. All of these parts have to work together in harmony to make a “business.” But I have a question.Without science and math, who would the administrators manage? What products would the “marketers” sell? How would people communicate with the masses? How would you read this column?Math and science can and do progress without business’ interruption, but is business that autonomous?  Matt Lousteau is a 20-year-old mechanical engineering junior from Laplace. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mlousteau.
 
 
 
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