/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.4174808]

>How much math do you really need in everyday life? Ask yourself that — and also the next 10 people you meet, say, your plumber, your lawyer, your grocer, your mechanic, your physician or even a math teacher.

>Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life. That courses such as "Quantitative Reasoning" improve critical thinking is an unsubstantiated myth. All the mathematics one needs in real life can be learned in early years without much fuss. Most adults have no contact with math at work, nor do they curl up with an algebra book for relaxation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102205451.html

[Anonymous No.4174811]

I need math every day in my life. I use it for my job.

[Anonymous No.4174813]

I love it when pseudo-intellectual shitlords try to reason their way out of intellectual bankruptcy.

I'm not very good at math, personally, but I use it constantly in every day life - and math has inherent beauty as the most logical form of expression.

No reasonable 'creative' type would argue that math is not only beautiful but obviously humanities most important achievement as a species.

[Anonymous No.4174817]

>>4174813

>humanities most important achievement
You seem to have forgotten about Platonic metaphysics.

[valjean !!4SOyPF0IuOv No.4174818]

RAGE.
stupid people are stupid.

[Anonymous No.4174820]

>>4174813
Interesting to note: the Washington Post claims the author is a professor emeritus of math, stats, and CS at UChicago.

[Anonymous No.4174822]

As if I needed even more proof that America is full of fail and aids.

[Anonymous No.4174823]

>>4174817
All fields of logical thought and theory are extensions of mathematics. Math is logic in its purest form. Also I am being trolled.

[Anonymous No.4174824]

Understanding math and science has such a profound way of really opening up one's ind and how they approach problems.

I disregarded almost eveyr math and science class I've ever had and got my B.S. and an MBA and thought i'd never need math. II then started taking courses on basic aths and sciences again (this time with a more open mind) and it really helped me enhance my creativity and problem solving skills.

I would recommend anyone and everyone do their best to take math and science courses, not necessarily devote their life and drop their current careers, but it will dowonders if how you approach life and the human experience.

[Anonymous No.4174840]

what is the relevance of literature, history, politics and music in my everyday life? I never use any of those.

[Anonymous No.4174843]

Stupid is as stupid does.

And not in an entertaining, Forrest Gump kind of way.

[Anonymous No.4174846]

I'm an accountant-tax advisor.
I use math erryday.

[Anonymous No.4174849]

Okay, guys, serious counterarguments time:

Sure, you could survive without math. You could survive without knowing grammar, or where Oregon is, or knowing about World War II.

But then you have to go ask your friend, the math "nerd", to balance your checkbook, and you type stupid shit on the internet without realizing it makes no sense, or you talk to someone from Oregon and get labeled a complete retard, or you have no idea why there's turmoil in the Middle East.

The point of education is not to constantly teach you things you need all the time. There are only a few things everyone needs every day: eating, drinking, shitting, shelter, walking, talking. We tend to pick those up on our own.

So excuse me if all of the things taught in school aren't the most important thing to every person in that school. If everyone needed everything taught in school every day, school wouldn't teach much anything.

Remember this next time you're tipping your waitress, or talking about the war in Afghanistan like it's some unusual event for a war to be going on in Afghanistan, or writing a letter to your boss. Most people should be using some degree of all of these things in their day-to-day lives, and if they aren't it's a failure of our educational system for not empowering them to see things in ways they couldn't have on their own.

[Anonymous No.4174857]

>>4174822
Nope, this is some old fart remembering the good old days when all you needed was your arms. Increasingly, people are working desk jobs, and increasingly the papers they push have numbers on them. This guy, this professor emeritus, seems to be clinging to old ideas that just don't apply any more, ideas that might have been popular before WWII, but ideas that were stamped out in the brain race against the Soviets, and now we have a more educated population.

[Anonymous No.4174862]

Lots of people do not need more difficult maths in their lives, I agree. But then again when you have some understanding you perceive thing differently. For example when you hear some statistics from media or read them in newspaper, you look at them more critically and more often then not, the numbers are interpreted with an ideological intention. Like the article presented. The professor compares studies in USA. Can we draw conclusion from that onto the whole world (I am European)? Can we even draw conclusion for USA. The guy made 2 quotes from 2 studies several decades apart.

People are ok with not having to know how the tv works having someone to fix it for them, but I doubt they are ok with others thinking. Then they thow their uneducated opinions around and when you ask them if they even know what the terms and numbers they use mean they feel offended.

[Anonymous No.4174867]

>>4174823

Incorrect.
Mathematics is much more incomplete and inconsistent system than Logic.

[Anonymous No.4174869]

>>4174808
>Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life.

Basic highschool level math has a lot of relevance. The advaced shit doesn't, unless you need it for your job.

[Anonymous No.4174870]

You cannot understand statistics, especially poll results, without a background in math. Americans aren't required to obtain this background. American political system is absolute shit.

Hmmm.

[Anonymous No.4174879]

>>4174808
How much of anything do you use in your everydya life? You can walk, eat, drive, thats about it. Its a stupid question. Maths people use math, non-math people dont.

[Anonymous No.4174889]

>>4174879
They don't use math because they don't know it. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Anonymous No.4174895]

>>4174869
Yeah, except it only doesn't have relevance to everyday jobs because people don't apply it. Calculus, the analysis of rates of change, or of total supply needed given a changing rate of demand, these things, and these ideas, can all be found in a manual labor setting like construction or factory work or dockyards. The people who work planes have to understand that the planes don't use a constant flow of fuel throughout their flight, either. The jobs that exist now are so different from those from when a professor emeritus would have been looking for a job.

Chances are the pharmacist needs to understand drug interactions modeled with calculus, and the plumber needs to understand fluid dynamics in a way, and the electrician who wires your house gets TESTED on his math skills because he has to compute every time he's wiring something. Jesus, these examples are terrible. Maybe the acne-ridden 16 year old bagging your groceries doesn't need it right now.

[Anonymous No.4174906]

>>4174895
Actually, I know for a fact that pharmacists need to know that shit.

[Anonymous No.4174911]

lol I've just come back from the drugstore.
The total cost was 85.5Dh (our currency).
I gave the woman 100Dh.
She needed a calculator to find how much she had to give me back.
What the actual fuck.

[Anonymous No.4174921]

http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
I felt like this should be posted here.

[Anonymous No.4174916]

>>4174906
>pharmacists
>everyday life
Sorry did not mean for a job, obviously some people use math at work

[Anonymous No.4174923]

>>4174820
UIC, not UC. Big difference there. ;)

[Anonymous No.4174925]

>>4174895
>Calculus
>somehow not a highschool level math

Good one!

[Anonymous No.4174927]

>>4174916
work is my everyday life...

[NotOP !!xbamUMLm3g1 No.4174929]

>mfw plebs take 5 seconds to add 11 and 13

[Anonymous No.4174937]

If she smokes, she fucks.

[Anonymous No.4174942]

>>4174937
She only started smoking after I was done with her.

[Anonymous No.4174945]

>>4174916
that's the point.
What do you do in your "life" other than work? Nothing, unless you're a kid...

[Anonymous No.4174943]

What the writer of this article is noticing is that drones such as himself whose only purpose in existint is to maintain the status quo do not need to know much more maths than basic arithmetic for their daily life.

And he is correct.

[Anonymous No.4174949]

>>4174808
Guarantee that this article was written by a rectum-sore arts major.

[please fuck me up the ass No.4174950]

>>4174808
6/10 guaranteed replies

[Anonymous No.4174966]

>>4174949
Did your ADHD prevent you from reading the text at the bottom of the page?

[Anonymous No.4174975]

>>4174966
my interest in not wasting my time prevents me from reading shitty articles when an abstract has already been posted.

[Anonymous No.4174978]

>>4174911
> She needed a calculator to find how much she had to give me back.

Pic related. Women tend to know only one thing, and it ain't math.

[Anonymous No.4174980]

>>4174808
>mfw the article is irrelevant to me as higher maths education is free where I live, and I actually can get paid to study them

[please fuck me up the ass No.4174994]

>>4174978
>mfw girls are exceeding boys in reading, writing, and science in american schools
>mfw lazy-ass american boys are still better at math

[Anonymous No.4175041]

>>4174994
>mfw it's because guys have to provide for their families while chicks have time to study

[please fuck me up the ass No.4175054]

>>4175041
>mfw boys means elementary through high-school aged males

[Anonymous No.4175068]

>>4175054
>>mfw it's because boys have to provide for their families while chicks have time to study

[please fuck me up the ass No.4175085]

>>4175068
>mfw it's not because of that
>mfw it's actually because girls are being treated equally to boys, but girls are naturally more intelligent at many things
>mfw math just so happens to be the one thing for which boys are more intelligent
>mfw i've fapped to this pic

[Anonymous No.4175098]

I never went to school, learned math on my own, and I've never used math in a practical sense, ever. Even in contexts where it would would be hypothetically perfect for the task, like finding out how many feet of carpet I needed.

When I found out how math was taught to people in school, I realized instantly why they were all having so much trouble with it. Instead of learning though using it to do things they found fun, they found the answer to context-less questions someone else had made. They walked away feeling like they'd been made to do the problem as a favor for the teacher, rather then for the purposes of learning anything.

[Anonymous No.4175108]

Radar systems engineer, bitches. 140k + a year.

If you don't do something science/math related, you're fucking poor.

[Anonymous No.4175144]

>>4175108
Tell that to sam waltons kids.

[Anonymous No.4175148]

>>4175108

I get paid 120K to fly around the world and install wireless networks. The actual work takes 40 minutes, and then I stand around for the rest of the day so that the people I'm working for believe they're getting their money's worth. On the average day though, I'm just getting drunk in hotel rooms while I wait for when I'm supposed to arrive on site.

I'm also only 23, and the same person above you who didn't go to school.

[Anonymous No.4175172]

>>4175148
>around the world
>world
>Kansas, and sometimes Kentucky

[Anonymous No.4175180]

>>4175148
>120k
>install wireless networks
0/10

[Anonymous No.4175184]

>Unlike literature, history, politics and music

I go through my everyday life without needing any of those. Sure, I don't need math or science to live, but I need every other field of knowledge even less.

[Anonymous No.4175205]

He makes good points; math definitely should not be treated by people like some sort of status fad like "teaching your kid to learn piano/a foreign language" just because it makes you look good. and people really do not need to use it in daily lives, so the only reason most people push math is for the reason mentioned above. but I disagree with the statement "unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life". if you count those academic, lofty subjects as relevant to daily life, then math is just as relevant as them. people love jabbering about politics using their weak, often irrational arguments, and this defines us, in certain 1st world countries, as a culture. we are known to be people who love talking about war, gay marriage, abortion, global warming- it doesn't truly affect us directly and physically, it affects us socially in the same way that pokemon affects kids by making them obsessed over trading. music also defines a culture, for reasons i don't have to explain, as do movies, books, etc. A culture that does not acknowledge math is a culture that is missing out on some of the most profound ideas ever conceived. Things that people count in their daily lives like fashion and money have a relevant purpose, yet belong to abstract worlds housed in our collective imaginations. In the mathematical community, the things that people hold to importance are form and relation. It makes conversation interesting and wonderful- together, we build up a complex world that we can sense and feel. Now imagine that we extend this experience to diverse groups of people. We create a never before seen common link in a LARGE population that plays with all these amazing concepts, just like they play with these looping, stagnant ideas from politics or gossip.

But math cannot be forced. Rather, it is an emblem or marker that shows that the majority humans has grown to accept these profound ideas.

[Anonymous No.4175206]

>>4175172

Try South Africa, Canada, Australia, Brazil, the UK, and Mexico.

I will admit that I mostly work in the US, but usually on the East Coast. I have installed networks in Kansas and Kentucky though.

[Anonymous No.4175224]

>>4175180

Check the job ads. You need a few thousand dollars worth of certifications, but you can make that much.

[Anonymous No.4175226]

>that feel when Im majoring in computer science

>implying I wont use math 24/7

[Anonymous No.4175229]

>>4174808

people in financial industries laugh at the level of financial ignorance that the general public has. For everyday people, finance should equal math. If they're not using it, it's their own damn fault for being poor.

[Anonymous No.4175241]

>>4175205
Well said.

Math is a source of enjoyment for me as a hobby is for most people. The best we can do for kids is to improve basic math education so they find it interesting and desire to learn more not because they have to, but because it's beautiful and can be fun. We can't force kids to get into higher-level math, but we can present the basics in an engaging way and allow them to choose what they'd like to study (or not study) later on.

[Anonymous No.4175353]

math

>claiming that you can cut a ball and use the pieces to make 2 balls of the same size, without adding more pieces
>logical

[Anonymous No.4175359]

>>4175353
Just ignore bullshit like the axiom of choice, real numbers, and non-measurable sets, and all that nonsense goes away and you can enjoy math.

[Anonymous No.4175385]

I use math every single day and I'm a security guard that isn't going to school atm.

[Anonymous No.4175387]

Sounds like a butthurt journalism major

[Anonymous No.4175410]

I'm a mathematician, so as much as possible.

[Anonymous No.4175416]

>Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life.

>The second question is more fundamental: How much math do you really need in everyday life? Ask yourself that -- and also the next 10 people you meet, say, your plumber, your lawyer, your grocer, your mechanic, your physician or even a math teacher.

Does not compute.

"Oh hello Mr. Plumber. When did the second world war end? Name 5 Shakespear pieces? Better answer faggot or I'll chop your head off."

[Anonymous No.4175424]

>How much math do you really need in everyday life?

You're pretty much fucked if you want to calculate how much are you going to pay for your loan and don't know logs.

Also
>Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life.

What the fuck? Name the last time when knowing literature or history has somehow helped you. You don't go to school to learn useful stuff. This retard is completely missing the point of high schools.

[Anonymous No.4175427]

>The writer is a professor emeritus of mathematics, statistics and computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

At first I was trolololo. Then I thought...

>Those who do love math and science have been doing very well. Our graduate schools are the best in the world.

Grad school is the new preschool.

Okay. :(

[Anonymous No.4175430]

>>4174923
Well, I think I just decided I won't be going to UIC.

[Anonymous No.4175436]

>The writer is a professor emeritus of mathematics, statistics and computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
He's right.
Some people are simply inherently stupid.
They'll become plumbers, cleaners or lawyers.
They don't need anything but most basic arithmetic, and shouldn't be forced to learn something they will never get or need.

[Anonymous No.4175448]

>>4175424
Prior occurances and life leasons are pretty fucking useful.

[Anonymous No.4175450]

>>4174867
This (ish).

>>4174823
True but Maths is an extension of logic.
It is the methodology that is most prevalent in maths that everyone uses to create coherent arguments. Proper study of maths develops proof techniques that mean arguments (even of the most complex form) can be made coherently and without fallacies that may lead to ambiguity in language (miscommunication) or falsely derived conclusions.

mfw maths is just arithmetic.

[Anonymous No.4175453]

History ect can be important if it for instance fuels a burning racial hatred of yours that defines you as a person.
Like in my case I am vegence poured in to the shape of a man and I would not have even known this or began my works if I had not known history.

[Anonymous No.4175460]

>>4175448
So is knowing how to count your change and calculate your loan.
Okay, I give you that history is somewhat useful. But literature?
Don't get me wrong. I think it should still be an obligatory subject. It's a form of art afterall. Saying that literature is more useful than math though is incredibly stupid and close-minded.

[Anonymous No.4175464]

If you read the article, you'll realize that it makes a good point.

I've seen this a lot myself. Teachers and books try hard to make math seem "fun." Those who will enjoy math and get a degree in math would have done so without regard to how "fun" the textbook made it seem.

For most of the population, math is a tool. For <span class="math">5\sigma[/spoiler], it's a passion. Our society needn't cater to the five sigma.

[Anonymous No.4175468]

>>4175464
Assuming taking a penis enlargemenet pill really does double the size of your penis, how many pills would you need to take to reach the edge of the solar system?

[Anonymous No.4175469]

>>4174813
I work for a grocery store company. a co-worker some years ago got a degree in architecture, and left for that career. he used to do homework on his lunch break.

one day he was doing this and he said "it's kinda dumb that they make you learn to do this stuff by hand--and at the same time they tell you that once you get hired, you never have to do it again."
Because you're not allowed to.
EVERY factor decided in a building, you must provide a reference that proves it is sufficient,,,, you simply aren't allowed to "work anything out by hand", or guess the correct size of any part. And the software does a lot of that now for you, automatically.

A lot of people on this board worry about how to pass various academic assessment tests,,,, but the fact is that once you get hired, you may never ever have to do the math again.

Consider an accountant: math is a very large part of what they do, yet they usually don't do it--a spreadsheet program does.

The more important the math (for any task) is, the less likely that you will be allowed to do it by hand.

[Anonymous No.4175472]

ITT: Butthurt aspies.

The author isn't trying to say that math is more useless than literature, history, or politics.

What the author <span class="math">is[/spoiler] trying to say is that to the average faggot working a 9-to-5 desk job in a cubicle, knowing how to take the integral of <span class="math">\frac{1}{x}[/spoiler] is not important, at all. That's all.

He's not arguing that people don't need to be able to multiply and add shit, but just that the vast majority of math taught at the college, high school, or even middle school level is basically useless to the majority people.

[Anonymous No.4175473]

>>4175460
Never said math ain't but math is usually is focused on much more than all the other subjects, not saying it shouldn't be imporant but in the line im studying right now I hardly need most the math and physics im being taught mandatorily right now other than to expand my "logical thinking" capabilities, while im not the best at math or physics I get past them pretty easily not with top scores though but in the actuall subject I hardly require to use any of the math or physics but I execl a lot better at the logical thinking aspect of the matter.

I do think that up to high school math should be focused on quite a bit just like with all the other subjects just because deppending on if you do or do not know what subject you are going to study afterwards said skills might be useful.

[Anonymous No.4175475]

>>4175469
Yes, the calculation itself can be done by computers. The equation though and the whole process still cannot be done by computers automatically. They need some guidance.

[Anonymous No.4175477]

The prof is right. Even in a professional atmosphere, the MBAs can just ask the Actuaries to whip up a little Excel app which can calculate future values because something like FV = PV(1+i)^t is too complicated for them.

[Anonymous No.4175483]

>>4175468
<span class="math">length~of~universe=2^{x}[/spoiler]
<span class="math">x=\frac{\ln{length~of~universe}}{\ln{2}}[/spoiler]

amidoinitrite?

[Anonymous No.4175489]

>implying any education past high school is useful for real life regardless of the subject.

[Anonymous No.4175495]

>>4175483
I don't remember what calculations I used anymore. The result was 41 or so though.

Also
>Solar system
Not the whole universe.
Although figuring out the latter might also be interesting.

[Anonymous No.4175500]

>>4175472
You could say the same thing about history. Or science. Possibly foreign language classes.

Every human is capable of learning complex mathematics. So why the fuck shouldn't we?

This guy is just supporting stupidity.

[Anonymous No.4175509]

>>4175483
If your dick is 2 units in whatever system you're using, sure.

[Anonymous No.4175529]

>>4174813
>I love it when pseudo-intellectual shitlords try to reason their way out of intellectual bankruptcy.

>I'm not very good at Urdu, personally, but I use it constantly in every day life - and Urdu has inherent beauty as the most logical form of expression.

>No reasonable 'creative' type would argue that Urdu is not only beautiful but obviously humanities most important achievement as a species.

That's you; that's how dumb you sound.

[Anonymous No.4175533]

>>4175483
According to wiki:
Solar system radius (whatever that means) = 1.344 * 10^13 meters
Average penis size = 13.5cm = 1.35 * 10^1 cm = 1.35 * 10^-1 m

Average penis size * 2^x = The solar system radius
(1.35 * 10^-1) * 2^x = (1.344 * 10^13)
2^x = (1.344 * 10^13)/(1.35 * 10^-1)
2^x = 9.96 * 10^13
x = log (base 2) 9.96 * 10^13
x = 46.5

There we go. I can't believe I wasted time with this.
Next task, how many pills would it take to reach Uranus?

[Anonymous No.4175543]

Most autists in this thread rage against the article because it attacks the thing they think makes them superior to normal humans. Their egos are built on the fact that they've learned math beyond calculus that most others will never learn; being told that doesn't matter in life, they will react with insults and poor arguments in a futile attempt to defend the little dignity they have.

[Anonymous No.4175561]

>>4175543
This is just stupid. The author is attacking the subject I love and is using his own poor arguments, like "literature and history is relevant in everyday life, unlike math".

[Anonymous No.4175566]

There are types of useful math, but it isn't what's being taught in schools, or tested.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/05/1042574/-Successful-adult-takesand-bombs10th-grade-standard
ized-test?detail=hide

Recently a school board member took a standardized math test, and bombed it. Successful guy, who uses some math in his life, but none of that math was on that test.

[Anonymous No.4175571]

What do you mean?

I haven't gone a day without someone mentioning at least one of Shakespeare's plays. Don't even get me started on history.

[Anonymous No.4175583]

>>4175571
How does that make it useful though? This is circular. People talk about it because they remember what they've been taught in school. If we introduced new subject focusing on the study of different type of feces, people would soon start talking about it too.

[Anonymous No.4175621]

I refuse to believe there are non retarded people that cannot learn calculus 1. How much does this guy want normalfags to learn?

Algebra 2? The school system is shitty enough, Curling up with an algebra textbook?, jesus christ wtf is he talking about.

[Anonymous No.4175676]

>>4174911
You live in a nation, with on average a lower IQ.

Sorry, but expect more lower intelligent people doing work what is intended for the normal skilled people.

[Anonymous No.4175702]

>your plumber, your lawyer, your grocer, your mechanic, your physician or even a math teacher.


>not asking an engineer, a scientist, a banker, an economist, or anyone in the finance industry.

What does this shit get published?

[Anonymous No.4175718]

I am a math major and I can say with all honesty, I don't give a shit. Let me study my math.

My question to you is so the fuck what if not all jobs require it? So the fuck what? Are you arguing that we should take math out of schools? If you are, you're retarded and I wish you suffering.

[The Juices of Lemons No.4176058]

>>4174911
>That feel when I have to check how much to give back when I'm at work only because I'm too lazy to remember how much they need to give me. (I say it once to the customer and then never think of it again).

[Anonymous No.4176097]

>>4175676

>Sorry, but expect more lower intelligent people
>more lower intelligent people
>intelligent

[Anonymous No.4176776]

To be an informed citizen you need these three courses in college.
1. Introductory college algebra (math 101) or equivalent
2. Applied Finite Mathematics (Linear Programming, Matrices, Basic Probability, and Basic Financial Math)
3. Probability and Statistics (Just what the name says)

Everything higher than that is for engineers, computer programmers and physicists. But it isn't really necessary for your average citizen.

[Anonymous No.4176785]

>>4176776

and explain to me why your average citizen should know matrices and linear programming?

[Anonymous No.4176786]

People who ask this question are fucking stupid and its thanks to the educational system. Mathematics is about critical thinking, making assumptions of certain conditions and trying to figure out the results of those assumptions. I really don't give a rats ass if you don't know all the trigonometric identities by heart, I sure as fucking don't, because math isn't about fucking memorizing identities or adding 2+2 or whatever stupid fucking arithmetic you think math is about.

Stop looking at math the wrong way, for god's sake please.

[Anonymous No.4176798]

>>4175543

/thread

[Anonymous No.4176799]

>>4176785
matrices are just another way of solving systems of linear equations. Very useful for things like, say, linear programming.
Linear programming is used to define upper and lower limits for things like productivity curves. It's really not terribly advanced mathematics. It's usually the course right after basic college algebra. It's all stuff that's used in business decision making and finance. Prerequisites for a lot of business management and accounting classes.

[Anonymous No.4176883]

>The writer is a professor emeritus of mathematics

meh

[Anonymous No.4176958]

>>4174817

A joke:

The dean of a college is talking to a math professor about the shrinking budget.

"Your department is so much better than the physics department. They have all this expensive lab equipment. Math only asks for chalk, paper, and a waste basket. Although you could be more like philosophy department, they only ask for chalk and paper!"

[please fuck me up the ass No.4176966]

>>4176958
>chalk and paper
>implying people use chalk to mark paper

0/10

[Anonymous No.4177003]

>Plumber
simple arithmetic
simple algebra
trigonometry
transposition of formula
>lawyer
Finance and banking
arithmetic and algebra
Statistics
>grocer
Finance
Accounting
Complete Arithmetic
Statistics
>mechanic
Algebra
Arithmetic
Transposition of formula

The most annoying thing about this article is the (very American) attitude that tradesmen and small businessmen are somehow stupid, that because they have chosen to devote their brainpower to the study of something that is practical that they must not have the capability to engage in intellectual pursuits. In Australia, the tradesman is king, all the boys in school want an apprenticeship, to that end the second string math courses in high school focus on giving them math skills they will need, but the math teacher was not a second string math student.

[Anonymous No.4177084]

>>4177003
Plumbers need trig?
'splain such nonsense.

[Anonymous No.4177086]

>>4177084
You obviously aren't a plumber.

[Anonymous No.4177134]

>>4174820
http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=64704

someone is trollin

[Anonymous No.4178845]

Who are these mysterious "average joes" that general education has to suffer for? These big stupid grunts who supposely will never take a loan, do their taxes, plan their home economy, working some menial job that completely avoids any form of problem solving.

And take into account all engineers, architects, programmer, accountants, teachers, researchers, *anyone* with their own business
Just to find some numbers to check how big portion of the population i have about now;
engineers: ~4%
business owners: ~7%
teachers (that might involve some math): 1%
That is a pretty fucking significant part already.

[Anonymous No.4178868]

Hello all, literature graduate student here. Yes, the anathema of /sci/.

Removing math education from schools, or dumbing it down, is the stupidest idea ever.

Children don't know where their futures are likely to lead. We must teach them so they're prepared for college courses. That is all. If a student in grade school and high school is not receiving enough math education they will be sorely lacking if they go into fields such as engineering, chemistry, or computers.

This article is shit. This is coming from someone who studied literature in college.

That is all.

[Anonymous No.4180536]

>>4174817
Who is this striking creature.
I must know.
I want her.
I need her.
I have to have her.
Tell me!

[Anonymous No.4180560]

>>4174808
>algebra book for relaxation
Add a Linear to that and that's me.

[Anonymous No.4180570]

>>4178845
Wait, you're saying 1 out of every 25 people in the US is an engineer?
That makes me feel better about this whole "we're not making enough engineer" thing.
How many engineers do people think we need? Not saying I wouldn't take more, it's just, how many can the economy support? Has anyone figured that out? 1 in 25 sounds like pretty good numbers to me.

[Anonymous No.4180586]

>>4180570
We've actually been stagnated for quite a while if not on a slight decrease.

Most people think that in the future for America's growth the number would have to increase by a lot.

[Anonymous No.4180774]

>>4180570
Stats weren't for US. It was hard to find decent numbers on this.

Do you find 1/25 to be much? I certainly don't. Sounds a bit on the low side for the part of society that should work out every piece of technology that surrounds us. 1/10 sounds more reasonable. Maybe i'm more flexible in my definition of an engineer (i.e. practically anyone who methodically solves real problems).

[Anonymous No.4181689]

>>4180774
No. My definition of an engineer is someone with a degree in engineering. Other people who create devices to serve a function are inventors. A lot of patents are created not by engineers but by people who don't have a formal engineering background and just use more intuitive sense of mechanics to problem solve.

[Anonymous No.4181693]

>implying people don't balance their budgets
>implying algebra isn't useful as fuck
>implying those bridges were built without trig and calc