https://triblive.com/news/roman-numerals-anyone-poll-suggests-bias-against-arabic-numerals/
Poll of 3,200 Americans found that “56% of the respondents said Arabic numerals should not be taught in American schools; 29% said it should be part of the curriculum, while 16% offered no opinion.”
Lol
Oy. That’s truly embarrassing.
Wow. Just wow.
Those are probably the same people who cannot do al jebr, don’t drink al kohl, refuse to eat laimun, don’t read makhzan, have never shahmat their opponent in chess and will absolutely NOT sleep on a divan
So… do I call them Freedom Numbers instead in math classes?
Note to self:
Remind students of the origins of our number system. I’ve done this once in a while in the past usually when teaching Roman numerals, but obviously it could use a wee bit more emphasis for some folks.
Had to have a note to self to teach about % Nitrogen in regular air after one blogger got so upset that airlines were pumping in air that was mostly Nitrogen and not 100% Oxygen! It makes a neat little discussion pondering, “What if airlines pumped in 100% Oxygen on planes?”
Wonder what this discussion will bring - or if I should start with the poll.
That same 56% probably think schools should teach American and not English.
Bit of a sensational thread title - 3200 = most? I’d say it’s more an indictment of our education system. Along with the removal of analog clocks in classrooms because kids aren’t taught to read time that way anymore.
Knowing the history of the decimal number system is the type of useless information, which is good for trivia night and Jeopardy and not much else.
Paranoia, ignorance and bigotry all rolled in a mixed fruit roll up.
A plot point in the last two episodes of Veep (see Jonah).
All it means is that most Americans don’t know that the number system we use is the Arabic. It’s a little like asking people if they’re concerned that dihydrogen monoxide has been detected in their public drinking water. It’s a cute little (gotcha!) survey that seems designed to do little other than make the average person look bad.
That’s right.
Why teach Arabic numbers when we could use Suzhou rod numerals instead?
They’re much more sensible anyway.
This is as much a commentary on public polling as it is on anything else. The next time you hear “56% of respondents said …”, keep this result in mind.
Oh come on. Most people surveyed don’t know who won the Revolutionary War. One responded on video The British?
Ask them where Des Moines is or what are the three branches of government.
We expect the average joe to know the basis of our alphabet?
It’s a set up question and tool for more of this self hate.
They didn’t ask them if they hate Arabic people. Or if they believe Mosques should be banned. Or whatever.
There are small minded people out there for sure. And there are simple people who are pawns for this type of crap.
Yes everyone who didn’t go to a T20 is not necessarily a troglodyte. They work hard, love their families, pay taxes and make mistakes when polled by “research” companies.
We need to stop.
Yep. Makes you wonder why people do surveys like this anyways. Who would waste the time and money? Perhaps those who are trying to show how stupid, racist and awful Americans are.
Why give it any credence? Statistically insignificant.
Because of the headlines it causes on some networks and the breathless panels of beltway elites telling us all how stupid and racist we all are, is the point.
That’s my guess.
To be fair, modern day Eastern Arabic numerals, as written in Arab counties, look nothing like ours, so I can’t really blame people for being confused.
“how stupid, racist and awful Americans are”
Well, you can’t deny reality.
But that isn’t specific to Americans.
“Stupid and racist” would describe a large portion of the world human population.