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I also like graph theory. I don't think kids should have to learn it. It's much, much less useful than statistics, linear algebra, and calculus in everyday life

I also like graph theory. I don't think kids should have to learn it. It's much, much less useful than statistics, linear algebra, and calculus in everyday life or most university courses. Math in schools should, imho, be a mixture of mostly "how to lie with statistics" with a little preparation for engineering and science degrees. People need an intuition for statistical reasoning to understand the news and participate in democracies. It's about as important as being able to read complex texts. You need some calculus and linear algebra to understand basic physics. Most other areas of math are primarily interesting to Mathematicians and Computer Scientists.

jonsen 5y ago
I aggree that statistics is important, but graphs are of some use in statistics: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_model https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_model Can’t find the link now, but I’ve seen a pedagogical framework for learning basic probability by manipulating dynamic graph-“walking”. Absolutely useable with kids.
- goldenkey 5y ago
  You are probably referring to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Bayesian_network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Bayesian_network
  - jonsen 5y ago
    Found it: https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/prof-engels-marvelously-improbable-machines/ https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/prof-engels-mar...
    - goldenkey 5y ago
      Wowzers: https://youtu.be/Ap5NslpYikU https://youtu.be/Ap5NslpYikU Very interesting stuff..Engel's probability abacus.
- adrianN 5y ago
  Yeah graphs are often useful for modelling, but typically you need very little basic graph theory to use them for that purpose. Diestel [1] for example spends dozens of extremely dense pages just to introduce the basic terminology. To cover the contents just of the first six chapters (which I consider to be the basics for algorithmic applications of graphs) you'd probably fill most of the highschool math curriculum, even if you skip almost all proofs. [1] http://diestel-graph-theory.com/basic.html http://diestel-graph-theory.com/basic.html?

jonsen 5y ago

I aggree that statistics is important, but graphs are of some use in statistics: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_model https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_model Can’t find the link now, but I’ve seen a pedagogical framework for learning basic probability by manipulating dynamic graph-“walking”. Absolutely useable with kids.

goldenkey 5y ago
You are probably referring to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Bayesian_network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Bayesian_network
- jonsen 5y ago
  Found it: https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/prof-engels-marvelously-improbable-machines/ https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/prof-engels-mar...
  - goldenkey 5y ago
    Wowzers: https://youtu.be/Ap5NslpYikU https://youtu.be/Ap5NslpYikU Very interesting stuff..Engel's probability abacus.
adrianN 5y ago
Yeah graphs are often useful for modelling, but typically you need very little basic graph theory to use them for that purpose. Diestel [1] for example spends dozens of extremely dense pages just to introduce the basic terminology. To cover the contents just of the first six chapters (which I consider to be the basics for algorithmic applications of graphs) you'd probably fill most of the highschool math curriculum, even if you skip almost all proofs. [1] http://diestel-graph-theory.com/basic.html http://diestel-graph-theory.com/basic.html?