Are We Creating Mathematical Illiterates?
Mathematics is no more the manipulation of symbols than music is the manipulation of notes.
You’ve likely seen the posts on Facebook or elsewhere. “Well, another day has passed and I still haven’t used Algebra once!” A Google search of this sentence turns up many images, including those of T-shirts and at least one tote bag. Go ahead. Copy and paste the image below. You’ll likely garner several LOL’s.
But is this a statement you really want to make? How would you feel about posting: “Well, another day has passed and I still haven’t read anything”? We frequently hear, “I’m not a math person.” Do we ever hear, “I’m not a language person.” We’re a culture that values literacy — at least being able to decode words from a page. However, mathematical inability seems to be something to be proud of, or at least to post to Facebook or on a tote bag.