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I enjoy this song, but it is rather dated. The new and confusing way of doing math he describes is the way I learned it in the 90s. It's mostly confusing in the

I enjoy this song, but it is rather dated. The new and confusing way of doing math he describes is the way I learned it in the 90s. It's mostly confusing in the song because it's done quickly and the visualizations added in this version are intentionally obtuse. The song is occasionally used as an argument for going back to the old way, but it seems somewhat contradictory when parents of school-aged children aren't old enough to have experienced the old style of math instruction he advocated for. New math was a trend from the 1960s, so you'd have to be pushing 70 to have experienced elementary school math before it.

ghaff 10y ago
What the "New Math" was about as I remember/understand it--I suppose that's what I went through we also did plenty of arithmetic drill--was a lot of emphasis on simple set theory, doing arithmetic in different bases, etc. As he jokes in the song, the focus was on certain types of mathematical theory as opposed to being able to add, multiple, divide, and subtract. Of course, this sort of tension is present in a lot of academics. Focus too much on the theory and students can't actually do anything useful; and many will be completely lost. Focus too much on the rote learning and the students don't actually understand any underlying principles (and, in the case of arithmetic, can't actually do anything a $5 calculator can't today).
- WalterBright 10y ago
  If you don't understand arithmetic, a $5 calculator will inevitably produce the wrong answer for you. Sometimes people question the value of teaching math to kids. But I can say anecdotally that the people I've met who did not understand arithmetic correlated strongly with people who were disasters with their personal financial affairs.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    Oh I fully agree. For Example, I can still remember having an argument with someone who just couldn't understand that it wasn't some banking conspiracy that you paid mostly interest at the beginning of a loan. I also tutored for an economics class and the lack of understanding of really basic mathematical concepts was frightening.
    - WalterBright 10y ago
      College econ textbooks also dumb down the math for their audience. Makes you wonder about the quality of the economists' work.
randallsquared 10y ago
Or have gone to a private school, even in the 1980s. :)
mcguire 10y ago
The New Math hadn't made it to Amarillo, Texas, by the time I graduated in 1986. I remember multiplication drills and the other good, old stuff. (And it never did me any harm. Twitch, twitch.) I learned different bases, sets, and the things I associate with New Math in either the limited high school computer classes or college. To be honest, I don't know if that's good or bad.

ghaff 10y ago

What the "New Math" was about as I remember/understand it--I suppose that's what I went through we also did plenty of arithmetic drill--was a lot of emphasis on simple set theory, doing arithmetic in different bases, etc. As he jokes in the song, the focus was on certain types of mathematical theory as opposed to being able to add, multiple, divide, and subtract. Of course, this sort of tension is present in a lot of academics. Focus too much on the theory and students can't actually do anything useful; and many will be completely lost. Focus too much on the rote learning and the students don't actually understand any underlying principles (and, in the case of arithmetic, can't actually do anything a $5 calculator can't today).

WalterBright 10y ago
If you don't understand arithmetic, a $5 calculator will inevitably produce the wrong answer for you. Sometimes people question the value of teaching math to kids. But I can say anecdotally that the people I've met who did not understand arithmetic correlated strongly with people who were disasters with their personal financial affairs.
- ghaff 10y ago
  Oh I fully agree. For Example, I can still remember having an argument with someone who just couldn't understand that it wasn't some banking conspiracy that you paid mostly interest at the beginning of a loan. I also tutored for an economics class and the lack of understanding of really basic mathematical concepts was frightening.
  - WalterBright 10y ago
    College econ textbooks also dumb down the math for their audience. Makes you wonder about the quality of the economists' work.

randallsquared 10y ago

Or have gone to a private school, even in the 1980s. :)

mcguire 10y ago

The New Math hadn't made it to Amarillo, Texas, by the time I graduated in 1986. I remember multiplication drills and the other good, old stuff. (And it never did me any harm. Twitch, twitch.) I learned different bases, sets, and the things I associate with New Math in either the limited high school computer classes or college. To be honest, I don't know if that's good or bad.