What is the point of torturing people with "higher" math in school?

Question

Before people start flaming me for asking such a question, please bear with me and read my question fully. I've been wanting to get an educated answer to this question for a long time now.

I understand that the society wants to create educated individuals, but how much math is too much for someone who NEVER in his/her life showed any interest or talent toward mathematics and will never go on to become an engineer, scientist, or any profession associated with higher math?

Just how useful are "quadratic/cubic equations", parabolas and hyperbolas for a person who always aspired to be a barber? or an athlete? or mabe a nurse?

Now.. We all need a certain degree of math in life. But after that, learning higher math is simply a waste of time for people who have talent in other fields. If kids were thought according to their ability/talent and not the curriculum, mabe we could be more effective at what we do as a whole? I say higher math is for those who want/need to learn it and use it.

Good points, but:

1) For every barber who uses "higher math" in his own business, I'll show you one that doesnt. Besides, he can always hire an accountant.

2)Just because the college's curriculum requires nurses to know higher math, doesnt mean they use it. I've been to hospitals many times. Not once have I seen a nurse apply knowlege of calculus. Cant you see my main point?

3)People say that everyone needs some "basic" math in life.... 4 years of HS, and at least 4 years of college higher math hardly qualify as "basic" math skills.

4)One person mentioned old ppl, and lack of acceptance of new way of life. I know plenty of old ppl with engeneering, science and doctorate degrees who show no interest in tech, and no acceptance of new way of life. So it's all subjective.

The above is NOT my comeback. It's the points I'd like to hear answers to.
While I agree that math will probably help people develop "better" brains, I still dont see why EVERYONE has to be FORCED to learn it

Answer 1

Almost any profession requires a basic degree of math skills - say standard Algebra, and basic Geometry. Beyond that, I agree that not all people need to use math in their daily lives. That said, however, there are several arguments for the teaching of more advanced mathematics.

First, mathematics teaches more than just equations and formulas - it teaches reasoning, problem solving, and advanced thought processes that can be applied to any area of life. The math classes are more about helping students learn to think than they are about the equations and formulas themselves. If a person can learn to think and reason well, then they can succeed in life with more ease, and that's a main objective of the education system is... to create successful people who are able to control their own destiny. If you want to be a barber, or an athelete, or a nurse (a nurse needs a lot of science and math, by the way), it should be your choice, and you should be qualified to do that.

Answer 2

I think this is the main reason : Once we as a society start down that slippery slope, recovery is impossible. If society does not constantly encourage, push and mandate difficult options, we will eventually become a bunch of louts, content to try and make it in an increasingly complex world with only a 9th grade education.

Talk with an 80 year old that doesn't understand life's new complexities; For the most part they are angry, frustrated and hold fast to conspiratorial theories . Then talk to an 80 year old who has embraced the new complexities. They are the more intelligent, more informed, happier, healthier individuals. They value learning and have never stopped learning. Rather than giving up because "it's too difficult" or "they don't need it", they mastered it. And all around, they're better for it.

Answer 3

Introduction to higher levels of math helps to give insight and better understanding of the basic math skills that everyone needs. For example, knowing the distributive property in algebra helps make mental math easier. You can change a seemingly hard problem like 17*6 into 10*6 +7*6, a much more manageable problem. One may argue that breaking this down into parts in this way is just common sense, and knowledge of algebra is not required, but all higher math is all of common sense written down in an abstract form, so you don't have to work through the logic every time you are presented with a situation.

As for your specific counterexample, a barber, he will very frequently encounter math required situations, as most barbers are self employed and run their own business. Being well-versed in math can not only save the barber time, but can also prevent him from needing to hire an accountant, which is basically paying someone who is better at math to do math for him.

Another argument is that most professions today (such as a nurse) require a college degree. Also, most liberal arts colleges require a well-rounded repertoire of skills, including math, an as a result have requirements that students take certain math classes. Thus in order to be a nurse, one must be good at math in order to acquire the liberal arts degree required to be one.

Click the link below to hear a recording of verizon representatives who didn't take the time to learn math and sound like complete idiots as a result. Don't let this be you. Learn math and even is it doesn't interest you, at least believe that it may be useful.

Answer 4

As Becka Gal said, it develops logic and reasoning skills that have applications in many aspects of life. Forcing your brain to jump through new hoops adds new pathways and connections within it, which can be used for anything. I have a degree in maths and have worked for years as a modeller, and it's the reasoning skills that help me more than anything else (I've never used most of what I studied, btw, but don't resent sitting through any of it even though it wasn't always fun). Probably the biggest difference between me and most of the people I've worked with (including many professionals with higher qualifications than mine) is that I don't fear complexity, because I'm accustomed to engaging with it and have tools for simplifying it to a human level. Those skills are just as useful in, say, mediation as they are in determining the capacity of a port.

It's also said that managers would rather live with a problem they can't solve than apply a solution they can't understand, and I've met plenty of them. Many people who will never pursue a technical career will become supervisors and managers, and have to deal with problems that require mathematical skills (e.g. scheduling). Also, increasing mechanisation and computerisation have increased productivity but demanded more intense intellectual effort. Fair enough if you can't do the maths yourself, but if you are not mathematically educated you won't even know that it's possible to solve your problem, and many people who know there's a solution won't apply it because they don't understand - and therefore don't trust - it. I don't believe it's any coincidence that the Japanese receive perhaps the world's most thorough mathematical education and manage the world's most efficient manufacturing processes. Not that I want us all to be Japanese, just that there is method in the madness.

The same principle applies to social and environmental problems. I think you'll find that in general, the people who have the most difficulty understanding and accepting global warming are those who can think for themselves but have limited scientific and mathematical education, and refuse to accept the results and uncertainties of the scientific process because they don't understand them. There's also an issue of simple "literacy" here too. In a world where we now have the technological capability to destroy ourselves our collective ability to understand what we're doing might be important.

And don't ever think you know how your life is going to pan out, or what challenges you will face. Why trap yourself in a job because you haven't the skills to do anything else? And who's to say that machines won't be cutting hair in 20 years' time and the only barbers who can stay in business are those who can program the machines? (A lot of factory work has gone this way.) The likely trend in just about all jobs is towards increased mathematical skill; how many of today's jobs will be recognisable in 30 years' time?

Answer 5

How are you going to know whether you like it unless you try it? And you can always take the ordinary level course if you don't like maths, and leave the higher level course to those who do.