Those who can’t do science or math…

Harper’s has an article titled “Dehumanized: When math and science rule the school”, which is not readable without paying for a subscription, but the Columbia Journalism Review discusses the article. The Harper’s article, it seems, is a rant about how students are taught too much math in science in schools, and the CJR agrees with that conclusion. I can’t imagine what editor would buy into this unless they flunked calculus at some point in their college careers.

As Doc Orzel points out in his Uncertainty Principles blog, Science is what make us human.

Science and Math in schools should emphasize using logic and knowledge to make decisions rather than using soft thinking and unclear data. Understanding the material world, in addition to understanding your feelings, is extremely important in making good choices in life.

Here’s a quote from the CJR article: Because the sciences try to explain the material world rather than how one should behave in it, they are “often dramatically anti-democratic,” the argument goes.

It makes you feel a little sick to read this kind of thing. It’s as though they are saying that the world does not need more Doctors, Scientists, or Engineers. The world, according to them, needs more magazine editors.

Dehumanizing the Two Cultures : Uncertain Principles