Comments on: I’m so proud http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/ It's not all caviar and baby wipes, mate Thu, 13 May 2010 19:59:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Colonel Nikolai http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/comment-page-1/#comment-6380 Colonel Nikolai Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:57:25 +0000 http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/#comment-6380 Actually the concepts as presented in most educational math problems lack context. It is the math teachers who are to blame for this, sadly. Because if you were to ask most of humanity "what's one half divided by one third" most of them would answer you "one sixth", which is wrong. Are they stupid people? I think not. I think the problem is in the math "problems". They are idiotic presented as such, requiring people to grasp an arbitrary abstraction, not a valuable one. In the US, the lowest scores for the GRE are those entering the education fields. The second lowest is ... wait for it ... government service. We're screwed. Actually the concepts as presented in most educational math problems lack context. It is the math teachers who are to blame for this, sadly. Because if you were to ask most of humanity “what’s one half divided by one third” most of them would answer you “one sixth”, which is wrong. Are they stupid people? I think not. I think the problem is in the math “problems”. They are idiotic presented as such, requiring people to grasp an arbitrary abstraction, not a valuable one.

In the US, the lowest scores for the GRE are those entering the education fields. The second lowest is … wait for it … government service. We’re screwed.

]]> By: Paul http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/comment-page-1/#comment-6379 Paul Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:21:51 +0000 http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/#comment-6379 You're right - and here's me testing software. Why am I wasting my time? You’re right – and here’s me testing software. Why am I wasting my time?

]]> By: AndyJ http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/comment-page-1/#comment-6378 AndyJ Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:11:58 +0000 http://bopl.samharris.us/2007/11/im-so-proud/#comment-6378 Agreed. Just think how easy it is to hoodwink people who don't have a handle on the basic concepts - they are ripe for exploiting by oh, politicians and businesses, for starters. Agreed. Just think how easy it is to hoodwink people who don’t have a handle on the basic concepts – they are ripe for exploiting by oh, politicians and businesses, for starters.

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