http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-intermediate-algebra-qa-20170630-htmlstory.html

"Diversity" leading to dumbing down of life.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33687803)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33687839)

Edit: OTOH, don't most of them have this under their belt, but they're too dumb to place into calc or even precalc, so they get relegated to repeating a high school course.

Most ttt schools I'm familiar with don't require stats for non social science majors

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33687844)

sad!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33687921)

Today, in my white collar non-STEM office job, I regularly have to solve for X and use basic algebra.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33688030)

If you can't do basic algebra (which is what they're really talking about), then the degree shouldn't be called a college degree of any sort.

It also happens that algebra requires the ability to engage in formal, abstract thought, which is precisely one of the things we expect a "college" graduate to be able to do.

If you can't do that, what you're learning is either worthless or should be called vocational training.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33799830)

"What happened to practical math? The one-word answer is Sputnik. The threat from advanced technology developed by the Soviet Union created a fear of a missile gap, and the powers that be decided that a concerted effort should be made to push engineering, science, and math. Engineering and science use advanced math, and algebra is the language of advanced math. In an attempt to respond to the technological challenge of Sputnik, practical math got phased out, and algebra got phased in."

-The Smart Guide to Practical Math, by Jim Stein (2015)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33887252)

"And just to be as direct as possible about the shortcomings of traditional algebra course content, it's quite typical that even the better students aren't able to make basic financing decisions later. They can solve lots of goofy artificial problems about trains, but they can't tell when changes in interest rates mean that they should think about a mortgage refinance, and they believe amazing and fantastically contradictory probability results."

-Everyday Math for Dummies, by Charles Seiter

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#33957084)

-The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pre-Algebra, by Szczepanski and Kositsky

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601204)

-ibid

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601209)

The most complicated math I have EVER encountered as a lawyer are the various formulas for valuing options (e.g. Black-Scholes PDEs).

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601303)

That classic education used to involve Latin/Greek and stuff like rhetoric and philosophy and I don't think they are requirements anymore.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601321)

1. basic arithmetic, used routinely everyday, usually with a 4-function calculator

2. vocational math for skilled trades like electricians and construction work

3. the math used in scientific and technical fields

There arguably could be fourth category for business, financial and investing math.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34723229)

Why make people who will very likely never ever use it study it? Wouldn't they be better off studying something that they might use?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601296)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601307)

and why teach literature, just keep all english education to composition

and who "uses" history anyways

you learn things in high school not just b/c they're valuable but b/c we value them as a culture, or b/c it's important to "teach kids how to think" (e.g. scientifically or mathematically), or b/c they're necessary to move onto higher level work in that discipline, and it's valuable to teach kids those things to give them a chance to proceed to higher-level work

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601318)

Just as if you want to be a mathematician why should you be forced to do anything other than mathematics? Why be forced to do some BS liberal arts subjects as fillers?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601325)

you didn't read my post. "usefulness" isn't the only reason we teach kids things. idgaf if a mathematician knows the details of the battle of hastings or remembers much shakespeare but he should be culturally-aware and should be taught to express himself effectively. and idgaf if an english prof knows how to do matrix algebra but he should be forced to do math beyond what he might find "immediately useful" to learn to think mathematically and analytically, and god forbid we should expose him as a middle school student to valuable knowledge that he might enjoy and want to continue with.

exposure to new areas of knowledge and testing kids' intellectual limits is an important part of pre-college ed.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#34601340)

MAKE BREAKFAST FOR MYSELF

LEAVE THE WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE

PEOPLE SAY, THEY SAY THAT IT'S JUST A PHASE

THEY TELL ME TO ACT MY AGE, WELL I AAAAAAAMMM!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#35130825)

"happy"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#35132700)

Most people also don't need to know about the Golgi Apparatus or inert gasses in their everyday lives either. Should we cut biology and chemistry too?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3663788&forum_id=2#35131188)