Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The tragedy of algebra - millions of lost hours

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

There are bits of mathematics I never studied and now with I had - the whole logic of matrices, for example. because I see the symbols and concepts applied in network theory. Calculus, however, which I did learn, I found zero use for. Algebra was a bit useful, but I have never once needed to solve a quadratic equation in 20 years as a scientist and researcher. Probability has been useful, and better grounding in statistics would have been helpful. I learned binary and hexadecimal math on my own, and this was quite useful.  My conclusion? It's a bit hit-and-miss picking what advanced concepts in mathematics will be useful 20 years in the future. Knowing this, it seems wrong-headed to try to pick one or two and make them mandatory for all high school students.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2024 12:45 a.m.

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