Since, as you point out, other "non-essential" academic areas are seldom
questioned, their usefulness must be more apparent. My supposition is that
the usefulness of math (as distinct from arithmetic) in understanding the
world is considerably more subtle. It's easy to argue that "those who
don't know history are doomed to repeat it." It's much more difficult to
convince people that "those who don't know math are doomed to make bad
decisions." It's easier for those of us who know math to see important
examples of areas of societal behavior that beg for a knowledgeable
population to help guide legislators (who, for the most part, seem to
share the general public's level of math competence) in decision-making
about ecology, technology, budget, ...
If it is necessary, as it surely is, to elucidate and popularize the
obvious necessity of math competence in these general areas, how can we
do it? It obviously must be done by those who know math; who else can make
the connections?
John M. Flanigan <johnf@hawaii.edu> The equation is the final arbiter.
Assistant Professor, Mathematics --Werner Heisenberg
Kapi'olani Community College The scoreboard is the final arbiter.
Honolulu, Hawaii --Bill Walton
On Mon, 31 Aug 1998, Lillie Crowley wrote:
> How many proposed occupations specifically require knowledge of history?
> How many occupations require that you know how to play basketball? or
> softball? Yet nobody ever questions (to my knowledge, at least) requiring
> either history or phys. ed.
>
> One should hope that study of mathematics beyond arithmetic will at the
> very least force people to try to think logically. It would be nice if
> they also came away able to analyze information in the newspapers, etc.
>
> I am well and truly sick of listening to students whine "What is this ever
> going to be good for?"
>
> What is our business, anyway? Is it education, or is it job training? If
> it is education, then people should quit complaining about having to learn
> things they are not certain they will ever use. If it is job training,
> then we should eliminate required history and phys. ed., I shouldn't have
> been forced to play basketball and softball . . .
>
> Lillie Crowley
>
>
> At 09:29 PM 8/29/98 -1000, John M. Flanigan wrote:
> >I'm always somewhat more than a little concerned that even educators seem
> >sometimes to behave as though the purpose of education is merely to
> >produce employees. Math is needed for students to become educated persons!
> >Society requires that sufficiently many citizens be able to read a
> >newspaper knowledgably, vote with some understanding of issues, etc. How
> >can anyone argue that some students don't need math just because their
> >proposed occupation does not specifically require it?
> >
> >John M. Flanigan <johnf@hawaii.edu> The equation is the final arbiter.
> >Assistant Professor --Werner Heisenberg
> >Kapi'olani Community College The scoreboard is the final arbiter.
> >Honolulu, Hawaii --Bill Walton
> >
> >
> >On Sat, 29 Aug 1998, Phil Mahler wrote:
> >
> >> Ask Marilyn
> >> By Marilyn vos Savant
> >> Parade Magazine, Sunday, August 30, 1998
> >>
> >> What jobs are available, it any, that do not require any high school math?
> >> -Barbara Zbikowski, Port Washington, Wis.
> >>
> >> I often encounter questions to which I feel strongly that I know the
> answer,
> >> but in order to make sure that I give you facts (if that's what you want)
> >> instead of opinion, I back up my answer with an authority. This is one of
> >> those times.
> >>
> >> I was confident that many jobs don't require high school math, but I
> didn't
> >> want to be, accused of wishful thinking, so we consulted the Bureau of
> Labor
> >> Statistics. Jon Sargent, an economist at the Office of Employment
> >> Projections, confirmed that a large number of jobs - perhaps even the
> >> majority - don't require high school math (like algebra, for example). But
> >> most do require elementary math, meaning arithmetic. Only manual labor
> jobs
> >> require no math at all.
> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> FYI
> >> Philip Mahler
> >> Middlesex CC
> >> Bedford, MA
> >>
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> Lillie R.F. Crowley
> Professor, Mathematics
> 138 Moloney Building
> Lexington Community College
> Cooper Drive
> Lexington, KY 40506-0235
>
> (606) 257-2797 Phone
> (606) 257-4988 Fax
> lillie@pop.uky.edu e-mail
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