I mostly agree with Hacker, contra Ed.

It’s not that math is useless. Obviously the opposite is true. However, most of the claimed broad-based intellectual uplift from teaching higher-level math is completely false. Most skills in any field do not transfer — this is well-supported by research. So the supposed improvements in rigor and critical thinking that “naturally” follow from math instruction actually do not exist. (In fact, learning to think more logically just serves to reinforce existing prejudices most of the time.)

I’m terrible at operational math and always will be. Something in my brain is completely and irreparably broken in that respect.

But my partner is actually good at math, but hated her math instruction with a passion. She has a minor in math and quickly understands how to do things that I literally will never be able to do. (Having tried some things for thousands of hours that she can do in minutes, yep, ’tis true.)

However, back to that hatred. Yes, some things need to be learned by rote. This is the way of many things in life. However, none of her math instruction taught her anything at all about the world, about how to learn, how or why any part of it was useful, or how to even in principle to apply any of it to the actual world. Ever.

And she didn’t go to some second-rate university, either. This is typical and defended by those who have also suffered such a torturous matriculation as any large investment often is. A former friend of mine argued (after suffering through a similar program) that it was basically impossible to teach math in any way less punishing than that until the PhD level or beyond.

Which is obvious bullshit but sunk costs, etc.

I’m ambulating all over here, but my point is that math for most people is actually completely useless and as taught is actively harmful.

So, mostly, I support Hacker’s ideas. If math were not taught like some sort of death camp, I might have a different opinion.

And of course math is used as a proxy IQ test — I’d support just giving IQ tests as it’s more honest. And that would also benefit me because I absolutely kill non-math-based IQ tests and that would open more fields to me and to people like me.

But anything beyond long division is completely worthless to 98% of people. Always will be.