
 |
|
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Sept. 17, 2008
/ 17 Elul 5768
Victims of math hysteria
By
Malcolm Fleschner
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
As you may have heard, the California state board of education instituted a new policy requiring for the first time that all eighth graders study algebra. Or, more precisely, that they take classes in algebra (whether they actually study remains up to them). And while I take no official stance pro or con about this new rule, I believe I speak for most California voters when I say of the notion that algebra will be forced on the state's eighth graders, "Better them than us."
That's because, like many adults, I recall with barely concealed horror my own grade school experiences in math class when I struggled to understand esoteric concepts like the Pythagorean theorem, "absolute value" and the "sine curve," not to mention the disappointment I felt the day I discovered that "learning about pi" did not involve an in-class pastry party. But now that our own school days are well behind us, many of us feel that the current generation should not be allowed to get out of the same suffering we endured. "Be sure to make them memorize that damned 'quadratic equation,'" is our general attitude. "Oh, and throw in some of that confusing 'new math' too. And maybe even the Metric system while you're at it!"
Frankly, even though it is no longer socially acceptable to criticize others based on race, color, gender, religion, nationality, age or weight, an overtly anti-math bias remains one of the few prejudices that people feel free to express publicly. Want proof? Just ask a math teacher. That's because any time a math teacher reveals what he or she does for a living, the inevitable reaction goes something like, "You're a math teacher? Ugh, I hated math. Math class was always sheer torture."
It's difficult to imagine people responding with such unconcealed hostility for most other professions:
"You're an arborist? Ugh, I've always hated trees," or "You design webpages? Webpages are the absolute worst. I wish I never had to look at one again."
Most math teachers eventually learn that they can avoid this kind of kneejerk resentment by instead telling people that they hold down more socially acceptable jobs, such as professional baby seal clubber or Nigerian email scammer.
How bad has our collective aversion to math become? It's even reflected in one of the most common expressions we use when recounting stories, even when the stories themselves have nothing to do with math, as in the following example.
"Well, this being Uncle Walter's first trip to Mexico, he wanted to sample some of the local cuisine. That night he scarfed down a big bowl of chili con carne, a plate of jalapeno poppers, two chimichangas, a half dozen beef enchiladas, and an order of fried ice cream. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that you're not supposed to drink the water down there. Well, wouldn't you know it, on the way back up to his hotel room, the elevator broke and poor Uncle Walter, who never had what you'd call an iron constitution in the first place, was stuck in that thing for hours. Soon enough all that Mexican food began really percolating around inside him and, well, you do the math."
Sometimes, of course, the directive that "you do the math" is supposed to be taken literally. That was the experience of my good friend Adam who, to protect his identity, we'll just call by his initials, "A.W." Anyway, in college A.W., made the mistake of majoring in math and, as a result, whenever he went out to eat with friends, they would always shove the check at him, saying, "Hey Wilson, you're a math major - you figure out the tip."
Here Adam's dining companions were falling for a common misconception - specifically, that math majors are automatically good at basic arithmetic. Contrary to popular belief, higher level math does not involve groups of bespectacled, white coat-clad individuals poring over particularly difficult problems of long division. It is a little known fact that even legendary genius Albert Einstein could not figure out how to use a simple multiplication table. Or, for that matter, a comb. No, the reality is that math majors typically spend most of their time attempting to solve extraordinarily challenging and highly theoretical questions, such as why girls won't go out with them.
All this hostility and ignorance surrounding math aside, I remain hopeful that studying algebra will, in the end, prove useful for the state's eighth graders. Because if they bide their time, one day they too will be out of school and in a position to punish the next generation of students with a whole new set of pointless math requirements. And if third graders balk at the idea of studying, say, advanced calculus, well, that will be the perfect opportunity to acquaint them with the expression, "You do the math."
JWR contributor Malcolm Fleschner is a humor columnist for The DC Examiner. Let him know what you think by clicking here.
Previously:
08/07/08: My newfound sense of self (promotion)
06/24/08: Getting the brand back together
05/29/08: Phrased and confused
05/13/08: Take this job and love it
04/17/08: News you can (re)use
04/02/08: Commercial (over)load
02/20/08: An overdose of reality
02/14/08: A developing situation
01/30/08: I can tech it or leave it
01/02/08: Confessions of a coke addict
01/02/08: Our bills are due
12/13/07: Going (to lunch) once, going twice…
11/28/07: Out with the old
11/06/07: My latest pet project
11/06/07: Can't tune it out
10/23/07: Something special in the hair
09/12/07: Can I have your attention, please?
09/12/07: Houston, we have an image problem
08/21/07: In the heat of fashion
08/09/07: Let's get in the game
06/13/07: You gonna eat that?
05/08/07: That's disinter-tainment
05/02/07:You Are (not) Getting Sleepy...
04/18/07: No time like Father Time
03/15/07: Deface the Nation
03/08/07: More gifts? You shouldn't have
02/22/07: Relationships can be such a chore
12/05/06: Who's calling the shots?
11/09/06: I'm taking selling to a whole new level
10/27/06: Some skills are beyond repair
10/18/06: You can't tech it with you
10/04/06: Award to the wise
08/24/06: Phrased and Confused
08/09/06: We're Gonna Party Like it's $19.99
07/19/06: Just Singing in the Brain
05/24/06: Who says you can't go home again?
05/11/06: When nightly news stories go off script
04/26/06: Cents and sensibility: A thought for your pennies
03/16/06: The day the Muzak died
02/23/06: Checkbook diplomacy begins at home
02/15/06: Today's toys: Where learning means earning
© 2006, Malcolm Fleschner
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|