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What Is the Value of Algebra?
The Washington Post ^ | February 16, 2006 | Richard Cohen

Posted on 03/07/2006 10:12:59 AM PST by RBroadfoot

None, according to Richard Cohen of the Washington Post.

EXCERPT: I am haunted by Gabriela Ocampo. ... failing algebra six times in six semesters, trying it a seventh time and finally just despairing over ever getting it.

The L.A. school district now requires all students to pass a year of algebra ...

Here's the thing, Gabriela: You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it. ...

Gabriela, sooner or later someone's going to tell you that algebra teaches reasoning. This is a lie propagated by, among others, algebra teachers. Writing is the highest form of reasoning. This is a fact. Algebra is not. The proof of this, Gabriela, is all the people in my high school who were whizzes at math but did not know a thing about history and could not write a readable English sentence. ...

Algebra ruined many a day for me. Now it could ruin your life.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: education; matheducation
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To: wolfpat
That would be bt3
221 posted on 03/07/2006 11:12:48 AM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: Servant of the 9

I don't need algebra to manage money. Just make sure there are lots of zeros before the decimal point, right?


222 posted on 03/07/2006 11:12:53 AM PST by mlc9852
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To: calljack

i thought 42 was the answer to the ultimate question.


223 posted on 03/07/2006 11:12:58 AM PST by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: RBroadfoot
Algebra isn't that difficult
224 posted on 03/07/2006 11:13:08 AM PST by Vision ("There are no limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence" Ronald Reagan)
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To: RBroadfoot
Here's the thing, Gabriela: You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it.

I have found it very useful in the safety field. It would take more than my fingers and toes to count how many times men lives have literally been saved by persistent computation. Sure a few here or there might have other names for me, but this I know in my lifetime, nobody died. And the likelihood that their kids will be genetically inferior is low.

Algebra, my dear, algebra can save lives. Especially of those poor souls who never understood it.

225 posted on 03/07/2006 11:13:13 AM PST by EBH (We're too PC to understand WAR has been declared upon us and the enemy is within.)
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To: taxcontrol; RBroadfoot
I can see this argument for Trig and Calculus but not Algebra.

I make my living from doing trig (pipe bending formula applications) and the classic definition is of calculus is "math in motion".

If these concepts are foreign to you, stay out of the engineering section of life!


Good example of a risky calculus question...

Of course you need algebra calculus everyday,

If DeShawn sells 27 crack rocks at ten dollars each, and then takes the money and buys a new Saturday Night Special, how many pimps can he whack in the next two nights before the cops can trace the bullets?.........


Lots of variables...after the $270 is pocketed...

$50 (assuming it has to be "hot" for less than $270) for a Saturday night special...

After three shots the barrel heats and rounds tend to wander...

Can a .38 pass through more than one pimp for a two-fer?

Anyone have a "smart" calculator???
226 posted on 03/07/2006 11:13:18 AM PST by Issaquahking
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To: RBroadfoot

Algebra is actually one of the more useful subjects i've taken.


227 posted on 03/07/2006 11:13:28 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: smith288

228 posted on 03/07/2006 11:13:32 AM PST by dnmore (If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.)
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To: MineralMan

I've had summer college kid help in the past. I will ask them to point out a specific measurement on a tape measure. I usually just get a blank stare. Yes, they need to learn.


229 posted on 03/07/2006 11:13:44 AM PST by shelterguy (I can hear "Jimi".)
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To: Flavius Josephus

Ding! We have a winner!


230 posted on 03/07/2006 11:14:38 AM PST by HeadOn (I'll be gone when it happens.)
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To: -YYZ-

And you knew in high school exactly what you would be doing for the rest of your life? A person needs algrebra if they're ever going to attend university or college and study calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, statistics, discrete mathematics, or any of the other more advanced fields of mathematics, some of which are pre-requisites for many fields of study outside the arts. It may also be needed if one goes to trade school or community college and wants to study things like electronics, tool and die making, CNC machine programming, vetrinary technology, and so on.




This is why I said it should be an elective. I never said anything about not teaching it, just don't force it.


231 posted on 03/07/2006 11:15:03 AM PST by trubluolyguy (Islam, Religion of Peace and they'll kill you to prove it.)
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To: veronica
I don't think knowing algebra is in any way a requirement for success in life.

Neither are most things that are essential to a well-rounded mind. Some people value that, most don't, all should.

232 posted on 03/07/2006 11:15:11 AM PST by Physicist
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To: RBroadfoot

Any form of math that has letters in it is useless.


233 posted on 03/07/2006 11:16:03 AM PST by ozzymandus
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To: Physicist

I had a year of calculus in college, I passed with a C, I went to law school instead of med school and I remember nothing of the calculus that I learned. I suppose having had it, enriches me in some way, but I certainly can't pinpoint how.


234 posted on 03/07/2006 11:17:09 AM PST by xsmommy
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To: dnmore

LOL


235 posted on 03/07/2006 11:17:53 AM PST by smith288 (http://angryprogrammer.typepad.com)
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To: smith288

There is a diffrence between "idiot" and "ignorant".


236 posted on 03/07/2006 11:18:01 AM PST by shelterguy (I can hear "Jimi".)
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To: RBroadfoot

I remember algebra class. There were two guys who were whizzes at it and the rest of us who ranged from pathetic to barely competent. The two whizzes were very different people. One was a semi-retarded fellow about 6'2" (at age 14) who could barely put two intelligible words together. But he was very good with numbers and was especially adept at abstract geometry which he worked on with our teacher (having aced algebra before the year was out). He probably works for NASA today. Or maybe the CIA. Something with computers.

The other was short, pudgy and had a short crewcut. He rarely spoke and gave the impression that it was because anything he might say to the cretins around him would be wasted effort (he was not arrogant he just knew he was a lot smarter than the rest of us - and he was). He passed algebra one and two in one semester and was through trig and starting calculus before the end of the second semester. This one is probably well along in his plot for world domination and we will all be heiling him before New Year's day 2008.


237 posted on 03/07/2006 11:18:34 AM PST by scory
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To: RBroadfoot

pass around the lyman allen games to these kids. i was playing "equations" in 3d grade, didn't know what algebra was at that point, but i was doing it just fine because it was a game.


238 posted on 03/07/2006 11:18:49 AM PST by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: shelterguy

"I've had summer college kid help in the past. I will ask them to point out a specific measurement on a tape measure."

Yup. They've never seen one before. I guess you don't find them playing video games and listening to your iPod.

I'm not a professional builder, but I've done a lot of it. College kid stopped by one time when I was building some stairs. I was using my square to lay out the cuts for the treads. The kid could not, for the life of him figure out how I knew the angles. He said that he could calculate them for me with his Texas Instrument calculator. He was just sure my stairs wouldn't work.

On the other hand, I build a large shed at a remote site once, and I wanted to essentially make it a pre-fab thing, so I cut all the components at home, then trucked it all up there. My brother-in-law was just amazed that I got the lengths and angles right on all those rafters. He never did figure out how I did it. I never told him.


239 posted on 03/07/2006 11:19:17 AM PST by MineralMan (godless atheist)
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To: RBroadfoot
The greatest importance of learning Algebra is to demonstrate to the student the existence of eternal laws regarding numbers, of which God is the author.
240 posted on 03/07/2006 11:19:41 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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