Richard Cohen is really, really stupid. And like a lot of stupid people, he thinks if he doesn't know something, it's not worth knowing.
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. You will never need to know -- never mind want to know -- how many boys it will take to mow a lawn if one of them quits halfway and two more show up later -- or something like that. Most of math can now be done by a computer or a calculator. On the other hand, no computer can write a column or even a thank-you note -- or reason even a little bit. If, say, the school asked you for another year of English or, God forbid, history, so that you actually had to know something about your world, I would be on its side. But algebra? Please.
Trouble is, there are so many things he doesn't know.
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.
Of course, that's incredibly stupid. And this guy shows he can't write, either.
Almost 20 years ago, I wrote a similar column about algebra. Math teachers struck back with a vengeance. They made so many claims for algebra's intrinsic worth that I felt, as I once had in class, like a dummy.
Richard Cohen, there was a reason you felt that way. Now, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I faild Algebra my first quarter of it in High School. But just because of that, I didn't figure that Algebra was too stupid to learn; instead I worked a bit harder and got my grades up. I didn't do calculus -- I wish I had -- but I did statistics, and I've used both. I've written quite a bit too, and know that though it's not the best there is, it's better because I learned to reason. I do know that I was never stupid enough to tell other people not to worry their pretty heads about algebra.
(Via ScienceBlogs : Combined Feed.)
9:54:13 PM 
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