I still don’t understand how mathematicians use math in the real world and how they figure this out
In: Mathematics
As the other replies have indicated, math is invented in order to help solve real world problems. Arithmetic is about numbers, and the higher branches of math are about things that are NOT numbers (what it means to add, subtract, etc., shapes, sets of objects, vectors, functions, etc.).
So mathematicians typically focus on “theoretical” math – inventing new branches of math, and/or resolving various theorems within math that haven’t been proven yet.
While the term [applied mathematics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_mathematics) (as opposed to “theoretical mathematics”) exists, it’s still about creating new models or branches of math to resolve specific problems.
So basically, the people who “use math in the real world” are mostly NOT mathematicians per se – they’re physicists, biologists, etc., other sciences use math a lot. Math is the underlying tool.
It’s similar to how “the people who use languages in the real world” are not necessarily linguists. Language is the tool that’s used by everyone to communicate.
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