Re: [Mid] OT--Math Bashing

>>I went through a statistics class for my psychology degree. My overwhelming
impression was that fear, not ignorance, was what held people (invariably
women) back.<<

Ay-yup. I was in advanced math through most of high school. I was
the kid who was the only one in his class to get a 100 on alge
(errr. . .) algebra tests. I was one of two kids who didn't
have to attend geometry classes (and wound up playing a lot of
chess) - and still got a B on the tests and as the final grade.
I took pre-calc, no problem.
I hit calculus - and flunked. Calculus was A Difficult
Thing, to me, Suitable Only for Geniuses, which I wasn't.
It was fear tha convinced me I'd never understand it,
and I still don't, to this day. Fortunately, what I do know
in math, and what I do now for a life, requires not much
more than counting to ten and the very occasional use of
a calculator. ("Quick? What's the sales tax on $16.42?" -
when the sales tax in the city of Columbia, Missouri, is
on the approximate order of, and I'm not kidding, 5.7225
percent. Something like a 1/16 cent conservation tax,
and other fractional-cents' worth scattered hither and
yon. . . )

Alban
From: ALBAN@delphi.com
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Received on Tue Dec 21 14:18:17 1999