If I had a penny for every time I heard the phrase 'I failed maths back in school and I turned out all right', I'd probably be almost as wealthy as if I had a penny for every time I heard the phrase 'if I had a penny for every time I heard the phrase.'
Underachievement in academics, especially in the areas of maths and science, has attained this strange cultural status of being one of the very few things that is perfectly socially acceptable for someone to brag about. And I don't mean in a self aware, ironic, self deprecating sort of way like how you might boast about how long you've had the same lucky condom in your wallet. No, we live in a society where war heroes who've thrown themselves onto live grenades to protect their team are still expected to comport themselves with a level of humility, yet it is completely fine, even encouraged, for the guy who gave up learning his 2 times tables when he ran out of fingers, to announce loudly and proudly that google has rendered long division redundant, and sincerely mean it from the bottom of his heart.
'What good did trigonometry ever do in the real world?' these people would say with a derisive glance at the rest of us who didn't have to stay down a year in elementary school to grasp the basics of fractions and decimals. Maybe they have a point, maybe trigonometry is useless - most of us certainly aren't building pyramids or working for Toblerone.
By stealthily removing computers, engineering, telecommunications, space travel, smartphones and, well, every notable technological endeavor of our species, they're able to clearly show the futility of mathematics and science in 'real life'. And we're all sort of suppose to nod along in agreement, lest we appear, god forbid, elitist.
I am not proposing to deny a crumb of comfort to those, for whatever reason, didn't attain the highest levels of academic success. You're certainly not destined for failure; being a perfectly competent real estate developer wouldn't require you to be an expert in calculus any more than it'll need you to master break dancing. I myself would not be able to show a derivation of general relativity, provide a clear explanation of the standard model of physics or prove Fermat's last theorem. The difference is I'm not proud of it. I don't think any of us should be proud of ignorance.
The strength of our civilization rests on our ability to absorb the accumulated knowledge of our forefathers, and in turn building upon that knowledge to pass on to our descendant. A democracy is only as good as the education of its people, and from how that's turning out lately, perhaps a little more cultural emphasis on academic achievement wouldn't hurt? After all, I failed failing maths back in school, and I turned out all right too.
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