On 21/02/06, Suresh Ramasubramanian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Udhay Shankar N wrote: > > The Washington Post on the "value" of algebra. While I have some > > sympathy for the individuals mentioned, I do not agree with this > > position, and I think that one can hardly be surprised at the drop in > > scientific literacy in the US (inter alia) if this is a widespread > > mindset. The repercussions are left as an exercise for the reader. > > A lot of people have no further use for maths (let alone algebra, > calculus and whatever else) after school than to balance a checkbook. > Let us not even speak of nuclear physics or organic chemistry. > > And they can be journalists. They can even be good programmers. They can > be lots of other things that just dont need any of that stuff. > > Let us not confuse that with the debate on intelligent design. > > But there should be at least some option for people to forgo advanced > science / math courses if necessary. And that can be achieved even > without teaching intelligent design, and wont automatically make them > believers of vague theories about how the world was created because God > decided that he had a week of spare time that he wanted to use > productively, or that the milky way was created because Ra was feeling > horny, didnt find a handy female deity nearby and so decided on a bit of > masturbation ... > > Algebra delenda est.
This really depends. I can agree with the position that an advanced course on algebra probably is not going to be useful later in life for the vast majority of high school grads. However, I'd say it's important to learn the basics of algebra just as you would learn the basics of all subjects. I'm fairly sure I use a bit of basic algebra every couple of days. On Sunday I used it to figure out which was a more cost effective can of Shave Foam. At the begining of the month I used it to figure out how much to deduct from my car wash guy's pay for disappearing for half the month. I stopped studying Geography and History after Form 3 (10th Grade/Standard). A lot of my contemporaries didn't take the Advanced Math classes that I took -- but they *did* have to take a simpler combined Math course that gave them a basic grounding in all the subjects I took as separate courses. Let's face it -- you can get through life without having an education at all. But you'd be at a disadvantage compared to someone who did study. High school should give you a basic grounding in all subjects -- algebra included. -- b
