This is a transcript of the interactive video Grow Up, Branch Out: Achieving and Assessing Quantitative Literacy for the 21st Century, produced for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education in 2019.
Anti-Numeracy: Valid, But Not Okay
The only thing worse than our pervasive cultural misbeliefs about numeracy is when mathematicians give them cover.
Here’s an example, with author omitted. (These gags are ubiquitous and I’m not trying to “cancel” anyone!)
I am a trained mathematician right up until I have to calculate a restaurant tip. (In reply to the below)
https://twitter.com/SusannaLHarris/status/1178782450958426114
And while I know these are tongue-in-cheek funny jokes (so please don’t @ me), I have to ask: Who laughs? Who’s supposed to laugh? And what happens when they do?