So, math is some difficult, obscure process reserved for geniuses? Is the public so put off by thoughts of quantities that is unable to handle basic comparisons?
This is not difficult! math is not for Einsteins!
They may use the excuse that math is difficult, but they don’t convince me.
I worked with a guy around a decade ago, who had a daughter coming up for college entry. This prestigious Virginia university had a entry test requirement for English and math. The kid passed the English exam....failing the math exam. So the college said fine...they’d just mandate a high-school type math class among the requirements for the first year of college. It counted for zero credits toward the degree.
So I asked this guy...hadn’t the daughter taken math in high school? Yes. She’d passed with mostly ‘A’s’. So my comeback was...so did the high school just screw up and teach just marginal math? No answer, was the response.
For me, math IS difficult. I don’t think that I innately lack ability, but I was subjected to some very poor teaching during a critical time in my elementary school years.
After saying that, I don’t think that these “math errors” are really due to a difficulty with numbers. What I’m seeing is a difficulty with critical thinking, period. Knowing when things don’t “add up” doesn’t require great math skills, just logic and common sense (which is rather uncommon).