“are we really that smart just because we do mathematics?”

Education faculty. Not mathematics faculty
An old saying I have heard about anyone who goes into Education:
Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, go into education.

Education faculty. Not mathematics faculty
An old saying I have heard about anyone who goes into Education:
Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, go into education.

When I think of people who are good at math I think of white people, Greeks in particular.

Maybe it's called the Pythagorean theorem because it was discovered by a guy named Pythagoras?

That was actually one of the conclusions in the book below in assessing the problems with the American Education system. We have a very low bar for teachers. I was shocked by some of the teacher statistics especially relative to high performing Finland.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0061NT61Y/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Edit: I don't mean they can't teach, but rather the quality of the teaching and knowledge of the subject matter were low.

Incidentally, isn't there a fairly recent and reasonable argument that Algebra was actually a product of the (for lack of a better descriptor) Muslim world?

When I think of people who are good at math I think of white people, Greeks in particular.

Maybe it's called the Pythagorean theorem because it was discovered by a guy named Pythagoras?

Isaac Newton was a pasty-faced Englishman who "invented" calculus to describe the movement of objects.

When I think of people who are good at math I think of white people, Greeks in particular.

Maybe it's called the Pythagorean theorem because it was discovered by a guy named Pythagoras?

We do set a low bar for teachers in this country--I know because I have trained some and the ones that were in my class were not always bright bulbs.

But comparing the US to Finland is and always will be faulty.

You're a book guy. Read that book, and I think even you will be shocked. It's a quick read. Becoming a teacher there is like becoming a doctor here along with the associated respect.

They compare Finland to Sweden and Norway, which should presumably be similar. They are not. And all of Finland's gains were in one generation due to very small but important changes.

I think it makes more sense to talk about different learning styles and how that has an effect in learning ability in math.

a squared + b squared = C your white privilege, homey.

This is a weird one for me. I am trying to understand the argument she makes and I don't get it. The argument is that because algebra/geometry uses Greek/European symbols and names makes it a challenge for people who are not of European descent?

That seems like a stretch. I think it makes more sense to talk about different learning styles and how that has an effect in learning ability in math.

It all has root in the Frankfurt school of Marxism. The idea that everyone in society was psychologically oppressed by the institutions of Western culture.