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Does Mathematics = Western Imperialism?
American Thinker ^ | Nancy Pearcey

Posted on 07/26/2020 3:56:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

Is mathematics next on the chopping block to be deconstructed as a form of "Western imperialism"?

A young woman describing herself as a teacher, Ph.D. student, and "social justice change agent," recently gained notoriety for tweeting, "The idea of 2+2 equaling 4 is cultural," a product of "western imperialism/colonialism."

Yes, even mathematics, held up as the most objective and neutral of disciplines, is being reshaped by critical theory, which claims that all ideas are social constructions by groups using their power to advance their own interests.

*snip*

Critical theorists argue that mathematics is just another arbitrary human creation that has been used to privilege certain groups while excluding others. Since all worldviews are regarded as equally valid, the selection of any one worldview to teach in the classroom can only be a matter of privileging the interests of one social group over others.

But critical theory contains a fatal self-contradiction. While proponents of the theory treat everyone else's beliefs as relative to social conditions, they treat their own beliefs as objective and universally true. And they are just as exclusive as anyone else in insisting that their view captures the way things really are.

Critical theory is also inherently coercive, which makes it dangerous. Because it reduces truth claims to power plays, it has no problem with using power to advance its own views. Gutiérrez warns, "Any resistance to the sociopolitical turn is a form of hegemony." In other words, no resistance, no disagreement allowed.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: criticaltheory; math; pearcey; worldview
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1 posted on 07/26/2020 3:56:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

Mathematics is congruent to Western success.

Socialism is less than parasitism


2 posted on 07/26/2020 4:00:05 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: RoosterRedux

2+2=racist.


3 posted on 07/26/2020 4:03:11 AM PDT by MrHead (Can we just skip ahead to Idiocracy?)
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To: RoosterRedux

You have a room with a 6 X 3 doorway. The room dimensions are 10 X 12.

WITHOUT KNOWING THIS and without measuring anything get a sofa and armchair forvand into the toom.

Or, for SJWS:

Your govt welfare EBT card gets $800 a month. You bought groceries for 1/2 your fellow Section 8 neighbors. WITHOUT KNOWING what you paid or how much they kicked back to you, how long will your card still work?


4 posted on 07/26/2020 4:05:04 AM PDT by freedumb2003 ("Do not mistake activity for achievement." - John Wooden)
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To: RoosterRedux

The forms and expression of Western mathematics are conventional and arbitrary. The fruitfulness and utility of Western mathematics are undeniable. Every single high school student should know this. In China, they do.

Use Mayan or Ubuntu mathematics to build a GPS constellation or a cell phone. Even a can opener.

I’m waiting.

But not much longer.

This way lies madness and intellectual sterility.


5 posted on 07/26/2020 4:06:15 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets ("Women's intuition" gave us the Salem witch trials and Kavanaugh hearings. Change my mind.)
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To: RoosterRedux

The chuckleheads pushing this crap must have all flunked Math in grammar school!


6 posted on 07/26/2020 4:06:29 AM PDT by MCEscherHammer
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To: RoosterRedux

Cathedrals are better than mud huts.


7 posted on 07/26/2020 4:06:35 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: RoosterRedux
"Critical theorists argue that mathematics is just another arbitrary human creation that has been used to privilege certain groups while excluding others."

This is one of the most asinine things I've ever read.

8 posted on 07/26/2020 4:07:21 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: RoosterRedux

27 ÷ 9 = Racism


9 posted on 07/26/2020 4:08:20 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (The Rats Just Can't Get Over The Fact That They Lost A Rigged Election!)
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To: RoosterRedux

This is an extension of the assault on “white culture”....like an intact family, having a work ethic, etc.....all things being torn down to pave the way for global socialism and hundreds of years of misery.


10 posted on 07/26/2020 4:09:57 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (The Democratic Party is communism)
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To: RoosterRedux

11 posted on 07/26/2020 4:11:02 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (The Democratic Party is communism)
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To: RoosterRedux

Abandon mathematics? Would you fly on an airliner built by these kooks? Would you cross a bridge built by them? Would you drive a car built by them?

The laws of physics are just white prejudices?


12 posted on 07/26/2020 4:11:52 AM PDT by Gnome1949
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To: All
That's the problem with critical theory and postmodernism, it has no rational limits. If not stopped by society, it always descends into absurdity.

If we let them pull down statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Albert Pike, they have to move onto the next most offensive until they eventually reach Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. After that, when there is no one left, they pull down a statue of Martin Luther King.

And after all the statues are gone, with nothing left, they turn to rational thought...and then to mathematics.

13 posted on 07/26/2020 4:15:58 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

‘Critical theorists argue that mathematics is just another arbitrary human creation that has been used to privilege certain groups while excluding others.’

that’s precisely what I told my 10th grade plane geometry teacher when he told me I should go to summer school for it...

he just looked at me...worst summer I’ve ever had until this one...


14 posted on 07/26/2020 4:16:36 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: RoosterRedux

As long as there are warnings limformimg us that THAT bridge was built by a BLM-SW engineer where 2+2=5 as opposed to a normal smart engineer where 2+2=4, I am okay with this.


15 posted on 07/26/2020 4:17:01 AM PDT by Chgogal (ALL lives matter. If you disagree with me, YOU are the racist.)
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To: MCEscherHammer

“Grammar” is racist.;-)


16 posted on 07/26/2020 4:17:35 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux
social justice change agent

Control freak. Wannabe tyrant.
17 posted on 07/26/2020 4:19:10 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Gnome1949

‘The laws of physics are just white prejudices?’

since the orbit of the moon around the earth is dependent on systematic racism, I would say yes...


18 posted on 07/26/2020 4:20:03 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: RoosterRedux

No but racist leftists are using information warfare to make people believe that statement to be true.

The “Big Lie” is easier than ever to execute with the internet.

JoMa


19 posted on 07/26/2020 4:20:59 AM PDT by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

‘Control freak. Wannabe tyrant.’

we are finding out about the little tyrants in many of the people we thought we liked this year, with the gag (I mean the mask) orders...


20 posted on 07/26/2020 4:21:49 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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