Less Math, More Civics

Tonight on “Humankind”, David Freudberg inteviewed Helen Thomas, the feisty and sharp White House reporter. At one point, expressing her frustration with the state of willingness of the American People, said that she wished that less math was being taught in school, in favor of more civics and history. This was a frightening statement. Math is a discipline, that (like science) teaches you to think critically about problem solving. That skill is as good for political problems as it is for numerical problems. I know she meant well by the comment, but in my opinion we need to engage kids in more math and science, as well as history and civics. I don’t see why there has to be less reason-based learned in favor of history-based learning. We should approach both subjects with the same engagement, and teach kids that the boundaries between classes are not the same as the boundaries between subjects.