Re: Is this math test too easy?

From: Mitch Harris (harrisq_at_tcs.inf.tu-dresden.de)
Date: 11/22/04 

Date: 22 Nov 2004 21:09:16 GMT

Herman Rubin <hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu> wrote:
>In article <fbr0q05vd4jgeae77em3mvhqeq0h9nkfh7@4ax.com>,
>Mxsmanic <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>k wallace writes:
>
>>> ok,then,so in your opinion, what IS useful and relevant? Not math, not
>>> literature,not history, ....what?
>
>>Reading, arithmetic, problem solving, critical thinking, technology,
>>business, cooking, parenting, and things of this nature ... almost none
>>of which are taught in school.
>
>One cannot do critical thinking to any real extent without
>mathematics. To do so, one needs to be able to at least
>attempt to evaluate ALL the "major" consequences of one's
>actions, and this requires stating them precisely, which is
>mathematical formulation.

That's a pretty unrealistically broad conception of what mathematics is.
One might have a good logical thought processes without being able to
articulate them mathematically.

In other words, instruction in basic mathematics and logic doesn't
(necessarily) transfer to success in, say, law.

Mitch

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