Shiny Doom Forum

[Jastermereel]

Lockhart's Lament
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
via: http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
An essay that became the book:
A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form

It's a brilliant essay that both demolishes the current methods for teaching math in school and suggests an inspired alternative. While the topic isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea, it's certainly worth a good look.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[fate]

This is less a critique of mathematics education and more a critique of education, though he doesn't seem to realize it. He's got a very rosy view of music and arts education and assumes the same problems aren't present there because...why? The premise would have been clearer without the excess idolization of the arts fields which was ridiculous to read and made the arts fields sound like some fantastic things where you too can be free and get money and fame for how special your perspective is. Anyone who spends any amount of time in the field or even adjacent to it will know that this is bullshit dreaming of people who don't know better.

Anyway, personal gripes aside, I do agree with his main point, but I think it should be expanded to all of education. Teachers should be available to help students if they have questions, but they shouldn't really lecture as such. Presenting problems and letting students figure out the answers in an information rich environment would be much better. The whole purpose of the educational system should be to teach the process of asking your own questions and figuring out the answers.

Before any kind of changes could be made though, we'd have to completely rework the education system itself...the lack of imagination and creativity he describes as being inflicted on students unintentionally aren't incidental. This is a feature of the system not a bug. It's extremely depressing. Our culture needs to change to allow people to ask their own questions without ridicule.
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People's whole lives do pass before their eyes before they die. The process is called living.

Most of the time its easier to get along with people before you get to know them.