Should mathematics be taught in schools?
Mathematics has gone hand in hand with schooling since time immemorial. I'm sure that the curriculum for stone age students placed "Sand and Stick Addition" next to "Hunting or Gathering: Feminism in the Modern Age." But, like chocolate and peanut butter, math and school together have a tendency to get stuck in your teeth. It's not the easiest subject to learn. It's largely dense and uninteresting, and the intermingling of letters, numbers, and symbols in its more advanced subjects are confusing and an aesthetic nightmare.
I've heard the argument that math is integral to a successful future, but in practice, this is largely false. It's entirely possible to earn a healthy living wage with no knowledge of math whatsoever. Anyone working the deep fryer at your local fast food restaurant can tell you that they can afford the cost of living with even a few dollars left over for frivolous expenses.
Secondly, The field of Mathematics has led to a nigh-infinite number of many villainous, vile, and just plain unpleasant inventions. It would take the power of three men just to list them, but I'll attempt:
1. The Cotton Gin: Eli Whitney used engineering, the bastard son of mathematics, to invent this machine that made cotton harvesting more efficient in the south. The consequence? It also prolonged and encouraged slavery and racism. Would you rather have cheap and efficient cotton shirts, or an America free of involuntary servitude? I thought so.
2. Newton's Theory of Gravity: Newton, known in some circles as "The Sodomizer of Satan", used mathematics to concoct some phony baloney about physics and gravity, myths that are only now being reversed by modern pioneers like Pat Robertson.
3. Nazism: Hitler used mathematics to push forward his theories of racial supremacy. I'm sure you're all aware of Hitler's First Theory of Raceonomics, but just for posterity's sake I'll reproduce it:
Germany - (Jews*Gypsies*Cripples) + Aryans = Master Race
4: Enron: Kenneth Lay used math to manipulate the stock market and con its stock holders out of millions and millions of dollars. If math can lead to horror on this scale in the hands of a mere corporate executive, imagine what can happen if an evil genius gets his hands on it!
This list has already become vastly redundant, so I'll spare you, even though I could easily go on.
Finally, Teaching math as a required subject takes away from other subjects that are equally, if not more, important . Why are our children forced to take years and years of this subject, while others are left wanting? Why are classes like Life Management and Home Economics largely ignored? "Sure, I've mastered Boolean algebra, but how will I ever learn to balance a checkbook or be a good mommy?" is the cry of thousands of adolescents in schools today.
So I ask you, should mathematics be taught in schools? What do you guys think?
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Originally Posted by Hub'ite
Methinks math is my favorite subject...
