"writing is the highest form or reasoning". really? you can write
unreasonably, and most people do that. you can't use algebra unreasonably.
maths and algebra, if taught well, should give a sense of appreciation for
rational thinking and reasoning. you may never use algebra again, but you
will certainly have the opportunity to think rationally.
alas, thinking rationally does not seem to be popular.
on a related note, nor does teaching maths and algebra well. one of the bad
things resulting from the collapse of the soviet union was the death of mir
and the other publishers who published those wonderful books - perelman's
"mathematics can be fun" - that made everything from algebra to quantum
physics fun to read about.
-rishab
At 05:25 21/02/2006, you wrote:
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.
