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Is this guy really a professor of mathematics?
He sounded so much like guys on late night TV hawking detergents and cookware, but that would be an insult to the infomercial guys. Those other guys at least sell things that could be useful to some people, if at inflated prices. This guy is just full of hot air and harmful ideas.
He claims that our math curriculum is too focused on arithmetic and algebra and we should teach probability and statistics instead.
There is nothing wrong with teaching games and rudimentary game theory to high school or even elementary school students, some of the concepts are easily understandable. But how can a student have a good appreciation of the fundamentals of probability without a solid foundation in algebra? And to truly understand statistics, one has to have a good knowledge of calculus.
The problem with our math curriculum is not too much arithmetic and algebra being taught but rather that the curriculum allows too many of our students to be so poorly trained in the very basics of mathematics: arithmetic, geometry, and algebra, which prevents them to successfully move on to more advanced subjects such as trigonometry, probability, etc. Many studies have shown that U.S. students (including many of our best students) are woefully behind our competitors in math education.
Let me give an example. In China, every student who wants to go to college, including those only interested in humanities and social sciences, is required to study algebra, trigonometry, theory of probability, solid geometry, and pre-calculus (analytical geometry). Everyone will be tested on these topics and some differential calculus (though I don't believe humanity students are required to study calculus) in the college entrance exam (gaokao).
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