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| I hate this. |
I will include quotes from friends to formulate my argument that will take the shape of a discussion. Names have been changed. Quotes will be edited to make the article flow. Friends will be color- coded for idea clarity.
No quotes will be altered in a way that would change the writer’s original meaning. Enjoy!
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FACEBOOK STATUS: After attending my first math class of the semester, I decided to make a list of things that make more sense than math: why people love pop music, whatever it is that makes the red man red, the word syudsjhdsjuey, and senseless murder.
CHARLES: “Math is more practical than people realize... usually because they go into a field that doesn't use it at all. Believe me; fractional-order calculus is pretty practical when it comes to control systems for electrical engineers.”
I'm sure, but how many people do that? As a writer, math stopped being useful a long time ago- I seriously think all the math I need to know for my life was learned by the time I was 16.
GINA: “This is going to sound nerdy, but I disagree 100%. Math (science) and history are the foundations of the world. Caring about anything else without trying to understand its foundation is like memorizing a passage from the bible without caring who said it or why.
I know this is preachy, but you can't progress without knowledge. It truly is power.”
JD: “But on this topic, math should NOT be a gen- ed requirement on the university level. I argue that the skills that ALL employers seek in their employees should be the only gen- ed required classes.
More practical classes may include; time management, conflict resolution, and stress management. Science, History, and Math, as useful as they may be for people that study something related to those fields, are NOT necessary for all employees in any field to know.
Many websites state what qualities employers are looking for: Research, computer, communication, multitasking, conflict resolution, leadership, planning, stress management, and people skills.
With that in mind, general education requirements should be the skills that everyone generally needs.”
FACEBOOK STATUS: Today's objective in class: "Factor trinomials by grouping when the coefficient of the squared term is not 1." That sounds like something every college graduate needs to know to be successful.
It's right up there with "Make balloon animals out of the entrails of a sedated water buffalo and when he comes to, use therapy to make the beast come to grips with the fact that if his parents hadn't ignored him as a calf he wouldn't be in this situation." Math is super useful.
CHARLES: “I could say the same thing about having to write a paper about Beowulf. How is some 1,000- year-old story supposed to relate to being a software engineer? The really sad thing here is that the math you're talking about (algebra) is hard for most Americans.”
School does make us do lots of pointless stuff. I think all the "foundational" learning should be accomplished by the public education system- once we get to the university level, it should all be straight business.
I'm not in college to make friends or learn how the world works; I'm here to (eventually) make more money. Everything else is a waste of time and I think schooling needs a major makeover.
I vote no more group projects or classes unrelated to our majors/ careers
The worst part is we PAY to do this stuff! *sigh*
FACEBOOK STATUS: Math syllabi should be considered legal prescriptions for uppers.
BILL: “I'm going to comment in an attempt to lay some wisdom on you. I agree that college takes money from people for skills they may not need but the incessant whining about math borders on childish behavior.
High school did teach you how to factor trinomials somewhere around Algebra I and for certain in Algebra II. The whole point of these math courses is to learn the language of math. If you are not in a math- oriented field then it is as though you are learning Spanish and moving to Germany.
Extending my language metaphor - no one likes to learn how to conjugate verbs or learn how to spell but reading a great book or writing an inspiring letter or talk is very satisfying. You’re dealing with basic math fundamentals that you will probably never use at higher levels that will then show you their value.”
Saying you need math to appreciate it is like saying everybody should be required to take two years of textile studies. After all, in our society, we are clothed more often than we are solving math problems.
Getting down to the abstract is useless for most of us and the same can be said of every discipline; whether it is math, english, history, astronomy, zoology, whatever. Basic knowledge is good, but once it is no longer practically applicable, it should not be required.
The last several weeks of this class has been more like riddles than anything else. Sure, some say it teaches problem solving, but it is 2011! Grab a calculator, any electronic device will do, and problem solved!
FRED: “Universities have a job to provide a universal (well rounded) education. Trade schools do not force a person to take ‘useless’ classes. If one chooses a university for higher education, this referenced individual will need to work within a university's established parameters.”
Should every individual be required to take two years worth of poetry? Oh noetry! (www.toothpastefordinner.com gets credit for that joke.)
Why don't we have poetry requirements? Because it is abstract and not useful.
When I cannot be given a real- world application (according to MY lifestyle that I choose and therefore pay to go to school to learn more about) for certain aspects of math, it is a waste of time.
Never in my career or my everyday life will factoring trinomials be of use.
However, I will need to solve for x on occasion and I will also do a lot of measuring, finding area, and multiplication and division. You know, the basics. Stuff I learned before the university would accept me.
The arguments presented to me about inapplicable math could be made about any subject, yet as we see, textile studies and poetry are not required of every student.
I think “useless” classes (such as poetry) should be offered BUT optional to those of us who will not use them in our chosen disciplines. If I wanted to waste my time and money, I’d buy a cable package and watch Jersey Shore.
We could at least have options for math! For example, I got to choose from several different history, language, or literature classes. But when it comes to math, there’s just the one route.
I vote we split up the math classes into options such as: “Stuff you’ll use: the shortest math class ever taught” and “Vintage mathematics: what universities used to require before Tucker posted his very logical blog.”
Some people need higher levels of math in school and their careers. I’m not one of them. Most of us aren’t grouped in with these special students, yet we are all required to drink the dregs of their bitter brew.
Higher levels of mathematics are not necessary to thrive or survive in society. We could use riddles involving words and it’d be exactly the same as what I’ve been doing the last four months.
People insist on higher level math as a requirement in universities because it is an educational tradition.
Remember: how things are is not necessarily how things should be. I learned that in a class that I think should be required. It was called Contemporary Moral Problems.
In this class we would research and then discuss moral dilemmas such as abortion, war, punishment, and capitalism. We learned how to logically decide where we stand.
But number riddles have always been more important than that kind of stuff anyway. “Who cares if thousands of young lives are extinguished in the name of unwarranted imperialism, do you have any idea what the factorization of 6m6n+11m5n2+3m4n3 is?! It’s the most useful thing I know- it’s my key to success!”
That’s why universities have math requirements and not logic requirements, right?
This is the real answer to the question.
A man and a post after my own heart it has inspired this long and drawn out response, please ignore it if you value the next 5 minutes of your life.
ReplyDeleteI feel I understand the two sides to this argument and while the analogies are quite helpful (I loved the different language one) it is impossible to make a clear correlation between poetry and algebra, calculus and 18th century French literature.
One thing that this post has really brought to my attention.... it’s the year 2012. We have the technological advancements of flight, instant global communication, for goodness sake right now you are looking into MILLIONS of microscopic lights that are flickering in multiple colors thousands of times per second and sending information wirelessly over thousands of miles within fractions of a second and we use it for ENTERTAINMENT.
Point being, if I need for some unbelievable reason to know who the dictator of Spain was during 1 April 1939 – 20 November 1975 it is not a fact that I need to know, took me 13 seconds to find (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco). If I need to know what the 743rd digit of pie is it took 44 seconds (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%CF%80) in fact, in that time I also learned how to type the symbol for pie into my keyboard (π=alt+227), heck I have used spell check over 25 times in this post so far.
We have traveled beyond the need for the in depth knowledge that our school systems are stuck in. We are an intelligent society and our strengths as humans (the majority) are not calculating mathematical equations or learning how to spell every word in the English language, there are computers and books that are WAY better than an of us at those tasks. What we excel at, and that nothing else on this planet has is original thought, creativity, and using tools (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/progeny.png). Tools like the calculator eliminate so much knowledge that the average person can now use for something more productive. We mostly fill it with pleasure time but that’s another topic. We no longer roast our spear hunted rabbits over a fire; we no longer have to train beasts of burden to travel. When the microwave came out I am sure plenty of chefs thought it was destroying our heritage.
Now I know the thought that is burning inside your head and it is that "If no one learns these things then we become just like the ignorant Eloi and be sustenance for the demonic morlocks!" (http://bit.ly/tnkMrc). I completely agree, but these are not things that we all need, but some do. If every college graduate needs to know the process of algebraic equations, why do they not need to know computers work at the microprocessor level? How many people know how to code programs like Windows, iTunes, or Firefox but use them every day? What about the massive and complex algorithms that Google uses to search the collective knowledge of the world? Just think of the classes you would have to take to understand “About 196,000,000 results (0.15 seconds) “.
My focus is obviously not English as you can tell by the comparison of the talented and driven person who has written this informative, entertaining, and crack-me-up blog, but thank you whoever stayed around and listened to my 2:12am rant.
Tucker! You're the best! The math class I took that actually applied to my field was SOCIAL statistics. I loved it and I learned the role of math in research and how to utilize it in order to show that some intervention is needed due to manipulating numbers. Even then. I'm not going to be a researcher, BUT if I decide a program I am working with needs more money, I have the skills necessary (although I may need a refresher) to do so : )
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