Posted on 03/13/2023 1:30:37 PM PDT by grundle
IMHO that is debatable.
But even if true consider this:
Nothing makes it from dream, concept or prototype into physical reality available to the masses without engineering at some stage.
A chemist may discover a new polymer but it doesn't become a useful success on a large scale if production is limited to hand crafting small batches.
The solution to put it into mass production?
Engineering.
And the transportation vehicle or system to deliver it to users?
Engineered, of course
Canned foods, lotions, medicines, plant seeds, gasoline, pure water, plant food, cars, air travel, prepared foods at grocery stores and restaurants,
computers, appliances, movies, professional sports, newspapers, etc., etc.
All are widely available only through engineering somewhere in the process.
Dumbing down math is just plain dumb!
See.....
Math is racist...
Meanwhile the Chinese are going, “Do it!”
Maybe so, but it makes it easier to carjack if you know calculus.
Honestly, calculus in high school is probably overkill for most students. A good mathematical foundation for college prep classes with rigorous courses in geometry, algebra, and trigonometry would probably suffice for most. Some study of probability and statistics would likely be more beneficial for most students than a calculus course. For those students interested in majoring in engineering, science, mathematics, or other disciplines requiring calculus, having an elective calculus course is fine.
There’s nothing magical about calculus that makes you automatically smart when you take it. It’s just a very useful branch of mathematics for many fields of study, but one that is not necessarily essential for the average citizen. It actually is not even really much more difficult to master than any other branch of math. The real issue is that it is most often taught with an eye to mathematical rigor rather than in a way that allows a more intuitive understanding. Anyone who has ever read a calculus text knows what I mean.
A good example is the basic concept of a limit. This is a concept that is readily understood intuitively. It is also a concept that is very confusing when expressed in mathematically rigorous fashion. Basically a limit is just a value a formula “gets clos to” when the input “gets close to” a specified value. It’s that “gets close to” part that’s tough to define rigorously. An example would help: consider the formula y= (x^2-1)/(x-1). For any value of x, we can calculate y using this formula, any value that is except for x=1. That value gives zero divided by zero, which we all learned is undefined. However we can look at values of x very close to 1 and see what happens. For x=0.99, we get y=1.99. For x=0.999 we get y=1.999, for x=1.0001 we get y=2.0001, and so on. Intuitively we see that as x gets close to 1, y gets close to 2, and indeed the limit as x approaches 1 for this function is indeed 2.
Basically at its heart, all calculus is is the study of limits. The derivative is just the limit of the slope formula (change in y)/(change in x) as we allow the change in x to approach zero. Integration is a limit process where we divide an area into rectangular regions whose area we know and add those areas. We find that we get a better approximation to the area by using narrower rectangles, so we take the limit as the width approaches zero. Infinite sums are just limits of finite sums as we allow the number of terms to increase. Basically once you grasp the idea of limits, calculus really is not that much harder than algebra or trigonometry.
This is what I was referring to in my post. Most people, especially high school kids, just space out when confronted with a blob of mathematical symbols such as this.
When I took it in high school in the 70s, there were less than 20 students in the class. The graduating class was 660.
If 20% are now taking it, it has been dumbed down.
But it is still a valid part of math.
A good “BS Meter” requires a solid Math background.
Certainly, but for most people that solid background does not necessarily require calculus. Don’t get me wrong, I would never discourage anyone from taking it. I just think statistics and probability would be a better way to develop that BS meter for most people. Most people don’t really need the to know the nuts and bolts of calculus. Certainly a good math program would also include geometry, algebra, and trigonometry as well.
That’s funny. I guess if AI is a learning thing, it learns from its environment and lots of dumbed down folks getting those alexas now. So yeah I could see AI actually getting dumb
Cursive is already out in most curricula… imagine not being able to read founding documents or other critical historical source materials.
I had a professor that said “Higher mathematics is what separates the engineer from the guy that greases the bearings”. I was more comfortable with the grease can, but I learned enough to pass.
If someone asks: “How much do I need to put into my 401K in order to retire before aage 60?” That takes calculus.
If you have the discipline to follow the rules of calculus it is an easy system to master.
...and physics.
I presume your job didn’t involve designing rockets and lunar trajectories.
Calculus was developed to make minorities, womyn of color and gay, transgender and disabled childryn feel bad. It is a tool of oppression. One of the chapters in most calculus books is calculating the trajectory of grandma after we push her off a cliff.
Not everybody’s job does. Believe it or not, there are only so many people who desire to do these things. But I made an enviably good living for 13 years supporting those who did and who wouldn’t have got past the drawing board stage without people like me.
In actual fact, I was too lazy to push the math very far. I settled with software. ;-D
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