No math? No problem!

Very interesting. I have mixed feelings on the topic. I have long held that we don't do a very good job making algebra relevant.

I do think students should leave schools with a decent grasp of probability and statistics.

I have never taken a course in statistics or probability but I know that I use them and I sometimes wish I had a better grasp of them. I was recently trying to make my way through a homework study put out by the economics department at the (I think) University of Arizona and I got completely bogged down by their statistics.

I also read a lot about neurology and cognitive science where the statistics can be quite baffling.

But reading research papers is kind of a weird hobby. Just out of curiosity, what more practical applications would I gain from studying these things?

I don't have time right now to listen to the whole thing, but I have never understood why we had to take geometry, which I hated and is as far as I went in math. I was an A student in algebra, but again, don't really know why we had to take it.

I also have never used the electricity component of science.

I think more applied skills would be more useful to the general population. If you need the information for something, you could always ask someone who knows.

I loved algebra. To me it was like working a crossword -- a puzzle I needed to figure out. I haven't used it in so many years now that I've forgotten most of it.

Geometry nearly killed me! I felt sick every day walking into that class.

Not long ago I saw a talk by Temple Grandin on TED where she was saying something along the lines of -- if a kid doesn't like algebra let them try geometry instead. It reminded me of my experience with both subjects. They must require very different parts of the brain. I probably would have gone on to take more math if I hadn't been forced into geometry.

I was never very good at math, but geometry was a snap--i could draw it.

I was never very good at science, but chemistry was a snap--i could draw it.

My main concern was that math teaches certain types of logic, but he seems to have that covered.