"Math HARD," says Italians

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Datajack Franit
I see Fez was right after all

Oh, what about?

I honestly think that is the first time such a phrase has ever been posted on Apolyton!

[Apocalypse]

Re: Apocalypse

Originally posted by Frogger
So what should be required, numbnuts?

History's out (don't need it); so's geography and English (most people don't have to write creatively for their jobs). Maybe we should just stop school after Grade 6 and get those lazy kids into the workforce.

Grade 11 math is not advanced knowledge. It's barely enough to do anything with at all.

Well, History/Government/Economics is good in that you know what is going on in society. English isn't just for creative writing. That is what Creative Writing (which I took for fun) is for. English is so that people know how to read and write. Some basic physics and/or biology is kinda useful. I think much of school should be electives so people can choose things like psychology or world affairs or geology or whatever.

Grade 11 math can very widely. Some people take Geometry (which I'm fine with everyone taking) but I know people who take Calculus in 11th grade who have no intention of going into a field that has anything to do with math. They just take it because they are pressured into doing it. Heck, that is why I am taking AP Calculus. I'm planning in going into Psychology and maybe Economics. Maybe be a Human Resources Director. I'm also going to be an army officer. No real use for Calculus there. It would be nice if I had a choice for AP Statistics since I can find a very good use in many fields for that class as well as in life in general, but my school unfortunantly does not offer it.

I'm not for stoping school after grade 6 since many people still have no idea what they want to do, but for people who do, they should have to take courses they'll have to use for.

There is a theory (which I partially believe) in that the government steers people to take courses in school for the jobs the government views are needed. They believe more engineers are needed so they try to get people to take more math. Not everyone wants to be engineers though.

[Rogan Josh]

Originally posted by MacTBone
I remember there was a poster in one of my High School Math Teacher's room. It explained how much math would be required for various jobs and which type of math. The job with the most - Physicist. The job with the least - Radio DJ.

I actually don't think that is true. While I do quite a lot of maths every day, it isn't terribly complicated maths because the theories are mostly already there and I just have to modify and apply them. So most of it is just tensor calculus, graded Lie algebras, noncomutative geometry, multidimensional integrals (in non-integer dimensions), and perturbative resummations and the like - easy!

[Japher]

IMO there isn't a single course taught in school (after 6th grade that is) that gives you any information that you really need to know to get through life. However, what it does teach you, is how the world works, and what options there are in the world that one could pursue. It is really the thought process behind the subject that is really learned and not so much what date in history the French started to be annoying (hehe), what a GDP is, what the chemical weight of Gold is, or even what 2+2 equals.

Well, if people don't want to take math, and instead, want to take art or music or something I'm all for. Gives me less competition and puts a little good into the world at the same time.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Rogan Josh
So most of it is just tensor calculus, graded Lie algebras, noncomutative geometry, multidimensional integrals (in non-integer dimensions), and perturbative resummations and the like - easy!

/me runs away in terror

[Charlemagne120]

Math is extremely easy and it mostly busy work but past freshman year high school math its all done on a good graphing calculator....hell our teacher even taught it to us through our calculators....so its not knowing the material...its knowin what buttons to push

[Rogan Josh]

Originally posted by Charlemagne120
Math is extremely easy and it mostly busy work but past freshman year high school math its all done on a good graphing calculator....hell our teacher even taught it to us through our calculators....so its not knowing the material...its knowin what buttons to push

This person has obviously never studied maths......

[Seeker]

What should we define as 'necessary maths' for a modern society?

-graphing, x y sin cos etc (actually, I don't think I even remember this myself, I haven't thought of it for years)
-working knowledge of a geometric proof (this was a part of education for a thousand years)
-The basic equations (force/mass/acc, etc)
-Polynomial equations, basic algebra.

[CerberusIV]

Well, I think it is all a plot to give people an aversion to anything to do with numbers so they don't realise how much they are paying on their credit cards and loans so the banks and financial institutions can keep making money.

[Bas]

Originally posted by Charlemagne120
Math is extremely easy and it mostly busy work but past freshman year high school math its all done on a good graphing calculator....hell our teacher even taught it to us through our calculators....so its not knowing the material...its knowin what buttons to push

Quite the opposite, actually. Sure, calculators or computers are useful for graphing, numerical stuff, etcetera, but to understand what you're doing, you don't need a calculator at all. I'm studying physics (which includes good amounts of math), and I don't think I used a calculator at all during the exams of the last two years, nor do I think that it would have made any kind of difference.