Teaching statistics is a double-edged sword in mathematics
They say knowledge is power, but power must also come with responsibility. For example, if you teach someone how to build something, design it, and create it, you would expect them to do it for the right reasons. Just as Mr. Miagi from the movie “Karate Kid” refused to accept an apprentice unless they promised on their honor to use those skills for protection and well, not to start a fight, we must be careful not to teach things wrong to those who have not yet grown up enough to handle it. Okay, let’s talk for a moment about math in our schools and the educational value of statistics, shall we?
One thing that bothers me on the subject of statistics is how so many people in our population get sidetracked by the facts and figures they hear or read about in the media. Maybe that old quote is true; “Figures lie and liars calculate”, and even if you don’t believe that particular quote, or believe in the concept, there is a very good book you would like to read;
“The Craft of Political Research – Sixth Edition”, by W Phillips Shively, Pearson-Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2004, 176 pages, ISBN 0-13-117440-1.
In that book, he teaches people how to carefully manipulate statistics, charts, graphs, and even questionnaire surveys to get the desired answer to help persuade political opinion in their favor. Yes, there is a book for that, there are several, this is one that I have in my personal library. Although I was horrified when I read it, I can certainly understand why people use such political manipulation, and it actually seems to explain much of the global warming theory.
If more people understood the value of teaching statistical math in high school and college, fewer people would be sidetracked by manipulated data, and thus would be better-informed voters and more skeptical of the information presented. It is my opinion that more mathematics of this type should be taught in our schools. Of course, it’s also a double-edged sword, since once you teach people statistics, you’re also inadvertently teaching them how to do the same type of manipulation that has been used on them personally.
Maybe we need more math in school, and statistics is full of math and therefore appropriate, but it won’t do much unless we also teach ethics, discipline, and the difference between right and wrong, as obviously some people don’t. I don’t seem to get it, I don’t even care. Please consider all this and think.