Math is racist

[J_B_]

2+2=22

You're definitely management material.

 

[Radagast]

2+2=22

Oh, hi Danny! ... that's not biased, that's how math works.

 

[J_B_]

Oh, hi Danny! ... that's not biased, that's how math works.

 

[Radagast]

I've been that guy.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Oh, hi Danny! ... that's not biased, that's how math works.

In all seriousness, I believe the issue is that in a post modern world where all "truth" is relative, objective mythical proofs are a slap in the face to their ideology.

 

[J_B_]

I've been that guy.

Me too. But if they're honestly that stupid, I usually decide to have fun with it. For example, develop a clear chemical that reacts with a particular paper and turns red. You have, thus, drawn a red line with transparent ink. Or, through a series of projections, have all 7 lines perpendicular in at least one of the projections - by whatever means it takes.

 

[Radagast]

In all seriousness, I believe the issue is that in a post modern world where all "truth" is relative, objective mythical proofs are a slap in the face to their ideology.

That is exactly the situation.

It is rare that people come right out and deny the objective truth of 2+2=4, but for postmodernists, the denial of the existence of objective truth is a basic principle.

Consequently, people will tell you that 2+2=4 is "cultural." When you ask about cultures in which 2+2=5 or 2+2=7, they quickly change the subject, however (as has happened several times on this thread). It is uncomfortable to admit that 2+2=4 in every culture.

To think that two and two are four
And neither five nor three
The heart of man has long been sore
And long 'tis like to be. -- A. E. Housman, Last Poems, XXXV

 

[Radagast]

Me too. But if they're honestly that stupid, I usually decide to have fun with it.

Just remember that, sooner or later, it all comes crashing down. And when that happens, management will need a scapegoat.

 

[Hans Blaster]

You're definitely management material.

It can work if they're strings, but in that case we should really write it as:
"2" + "2" = "22"

 

[Radagast]

It can work if they're strings, but in that case we should really write it as:
"2" + "2" = "22"

But then you're not talking about numbers, you're talking about free monoids.

To go from 2+2 to "2"+"2" to "22" to 22 is not valid.

 

[Hans Blaster]

But then you're not talking about numbers, you're talking about free monoids.

To go from 2+2 to "2"+"2" to "22" to 22 is not valid.

Monoids, you say... My first thought was that you were making a very obscure Dr. Who reference, then I realized it was some math I'd never seen. All that for a bad joke about string concatenation. Maybe it would be funnier in Fortran:

twotwo = "2"//"2"

 

[Radagast]

Maybe it would be funnier in Fortran

Everything is funnier in Fortran.

 

[Tom 1]

I don't get it.

Neither do I

 

[Radagast]

I find the Idea of calling a mathematical system racist because of it's prevalence and it being part of the traditional teaching curriculum of the west to be wholly unproductive.

Indeed, not teaching "Western" mathematics to students from specific ethnic groups closes off all kinds of career options for them.

 

[FreeinChrist]

ADVISOR HAT

This thread was moved to the Kitchen Sink.​

 

[FreeinChrist]

Adding a note here - the tweet in the article in the OP is taken out of context and we do not see what she is responding to. The fact is, in higher education, the 2 +2=4 question is more of a logic and philosophical question and critical thinking. We use the the decimal system as it is easiest and comes to us via Western civilization.

There are other numbering systems. As I was told "2 does not exist in a binary system; only 0 and 1. Other base systems may, or may not, utilize the same rules as the decimal system. So, 2 + 2 will not have the same meaning. Numbering systems are rule based, and can result in a multiple different results as long as it is logical."

So rather than making this a racist thing, it is a thinking/logical question that non=BLM members engage in too:

Two Plus Two Does Not Always Equal Four | The Nickel Report.

LOL Two Plus Two Equals Four, But Not Always

Not everything is racism....

 

[Hammster]

Just google “is math racist”. Crazy results.

 

[Arcangl86]

Adding two and two is always four, no matter the number base.

In base 3, 2+2=11 and in base 4 2+2=10. The quantity is the same, but the way we express it is different based on the numbering system we use.

 

[FreeinChrist]

Yep. This was interesting:
Math is racist: How data is driving inequality

and

Asians are good at math? Why dressing up racism as a ...
Nope, not all Asians are good at math.

But the article in the OP cherry-picked a tweet out of a conversation.

 

[Radagast]

Adding a note here - the tweet in the article in the OP is taken out of context and we do not see what she is responding to.

She was responding to this:

There are other numbering systems.

This isn't about numbering systems, though.