Um.  Wow.

Got this from Ernie’s 3-D Pancakes.

It’s an article from The Washington Post on-line that touts the complete lack of necessity of Algebra in our daily lives.  The basic gist of the article is that the author hated Algebra, failed it repeatedly, passed by the skin of their teeth, and never used it again.  Therefore, the author reasons, it is not necessary for people to learn Algebra.

I have known a number of people who do not drive cars.  Some of them cannot drive cars. They never acquired the skill, for a variety of reasons, and view it as unnecessary.  A couple of them have even made comments about how cars make one lazy and thoughtless and pollute the environment…and they have a point.

Still, these same people often find themselves calling me or other friends or family and asking those people to carpool with them or provide them with transportation.  Sometimes they have to take a bus or a taxi in order to get somewhere that is not accessible to them by foot or bicycle.

Still they insist, it’s less difficult and actually morally superior than learning how to drive and using their own car.  They talk about how their lives are actually more full and meaningful because of their experiences walking and biking to get where they are going…the greater, more meaningful journey so to speak.  They have a point.  Also, they will insist that driving is not necessary.  Also true to an extent.

But they remain, from time to time, dependant on the skill of driving.  It isn’t necessary that THEY know how to drive…merely that someone they can depend upon knows how, and has the time to spend driving them, or is going the same direction as they are.  They need to make phone calls and plan ahead, scrounge around the apartment for spare bus fare.  They occasionally need to put effort into accommodating the fact that they have one less tool in their toolkit than many other people.   If they knew how to drive, they would have more options, flexibility and independence than they currently have.

And I would bet you that if they COULD drive…they would.  In fact, I bet they would do it quite a bit.  Driving doesn’t seem like a very useful skill to them because they CAN’T DO IT. 

And it’s amazing how useful a skill becomes after you acquire it.

See, when you learn a new skill, you use it…and as a result you come to view it as useful.  But if you don’t have that skill, you can’t use it…so it is useless.

As someone who would rather walk or run or bike than drive, I can understand.  Also, I can understand the clammy-palmed sweat of a person with selective Math-induced brain trauma being called to the board and asked to demonstrate a solution.  Hey, I never failed a math class…but I spent many a night up late, in tears, with my father yelling “Why can’t you understand this…it’s not as though you’re a total idiot?” and storming out of the room in frustration.

But I learned it.  No, I’ll never be Good Will Hunting but what Math I learned, I appreciate.  And yes, when it is necessary, I even use it.  Because I can.