Not advanced mathematics, but it would be nice if such a person knew that a disease with a 99.997% chance of survival, even if you catch it, is almost a zero chance.
Except for people who plan to get a college degree in something truly requiring advanced mathematics, understanding percentages is the most important mathematics. We rush too many students into algebra when they don’t understand that 50% of something is 1/2.
“...they don’t understand that 50% of something is 1/2.”
A little different topic here than the thread, but good point.
When you consider that way to large a chunk of those people that are expected to handle basic math come out of high school illiterate, then they may need to understand the words in between the numbers also.
Anyway, basic math is being started in early grammar school. Most schools begin teaching students the ideas of practical mathematics in the first grade and continue through the second grade. If you wish to determine too early an introduction to algebra a rush, consider that students in today’s schools are introduced to basic algebra between the 3rd and 5th grade years. The colleges are instructing, supposedly, at the 13th grade level. That’s eight years to learn the process so the students that can afford it can get that magic sheep skin to success. And the difference between $40K a year and $80K is a 100% difference. And that’s where the system has taken us. Along with the Federal Reserve estimating that in quarter two of 2021, Americans owed a startling $1.73 trillion in student loans. Just to get that other $40K a year? They don’t teach common sense in either high school or college. If they did, few of the faculties would be qualified. And they don’t get that other $40 either.
wy69