21 APR 2014 by ideonexus

 Mathematics is one of humanity's great achievements

Mathematics is one of humanity’s great achievements. By enhancing the capabilities of the human mind, mathematics has facilitated the development of science, technology, engineering, business, and government. Mathematics is also an intellectual achievement of great sophistication and beauty that epitomizes the power of deductive reasoning. For people to participate fully in society, they must know basic mathematics. Citizens who cannot reason mathematically are cut off from whole realms of ...
Folksonomies: education mathematics
Folksonomies: education mathematics
  1  notes

Mathematical illiteracy is crippling.

03 SEP 2011 by ideonexus

 The Numeral Five Backward

Standard mathematics has recently been rendered obsolete by the discovery that for years we have been writing the numeral five backward. This has led to reevaluation of counting as a method of getting from one to ten. Students are taught advanced concepts of Boolean algebra, and formerly unsolvable equations are dealt with by threats of reprisals.
  1  notes

Woody Allen's humorous fancy about people disputing basic mathematics is intriguing for the way it hints at a world where even the most basic concepts could become subjective through irrationality.