Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 A day at the races
- 2 The long run
- 3 The vice of gambling and the virtue of insurance
- 4 Passing the time
- 5 A pack of cards
- 6 Other people
- 7 Simple games
- 8 Points of agreement
- 9 Long duels
- 10 A night at the casino
- 11 Prophecy
- 12 Final reflections
- Appendix A The logarithm
- Appendix B Cardano
- Appendix C Huygens's problems
- Appendix D Hints on pronunciation
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - Final reflections
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 A day at the races
- 2 The long run
- 3 The vice of gambling and the virtue of insurance
- 4 Passing the time
- 5 A pack of cards
- 6 Other people
- 7 Simple games
- 8 Points of agreement
- 9 Long duels
- 10 A night at the casino
- 11 Prophecy
- 12 Final reflections
- Appendix A The logarithm
- Appendix B Cardano
- Appendix C Huygens's problems
- Appendix D Hints on pronunciation
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
First the music, then the words
In 1981, the British Government commissioned a report on the teaching of mathematics. Part of the project involved interviewing a representative sample of the population.
Both direct and indirect approaches were tried, the word ‘mathematics’ was replaced by ‘arithmetic’ or ‘everyday use of numbers’ but it was clear that the reason for people's refusal to be interviewed was simply that the subject was mathematics. … [The] apparently widespread perception amongst adults of mathematics as a daunting subject pervaded a great deal of the sample selection; half the people approached as being appropriate for inclusion in the sample refused to take part. … The extent to which the need to undertake even an apparently straightforward piece of mathematics could induce feelings of helplessness, fear and even guilt in some of those interviewed was, perhaps, the most striking feature of the study. … [These] feelings of guilt … appeared to be especially marked among those whose academic qualifications were high.
[[13], pages 6–7]Feelings of guilt can lead to excessive humility or to excessive hostility. Sometimes, hostility is expressed in the claim that any mathematical argument can be translated into non-mathematical terms. Thus, for example, the reason the moon can orbit the earth is shown by Figure 12.1, in which a stone is projected with successively greater initial velocity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Naive Decision MakingMathematics Applied to the Social World, pp. 335 - 344Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008