"Innumeracy" being the numerical equivalence of "illiteracy", it's astounding to me that most Americans probably wouldn't even recognize the word (thought most numerate people would be able to figure it out pretty quickly). That said, American Thinker is right that the defining quality of a "nerd" is numeracy, not "whiteness" as argued by some social scientist.
The article does not mention the true common characteristic of nerds: they are numerate, i.e. conversant in the language of mathematics - an odd omission for a linguist. This omission can be explained by the fact that Berkeley-style multi-culturalism is threatened by numeracy, the development of which is the hallmark of Western Civilization and the historical wellspring of western economic and military success. Consequently, it is incumbent on multi-culturalists to discredit whenever and wherever possible those who are numerate.
It troubles me to hear people denounce math and proclaim its uselessness in their lives... imagine anyone making the same claims about reading and writing! Sure "math is hard", but achieving basic functional numeracy is well within the ability of an average person, just as is functional literacy -- and numeracy is just as important! Consider: Jesus said more about money than about almost any other topic, and no one can handle money wisely without being numerate.
People who reject numeracy will not thrive in our modern civilization and have the most to gain by tearing it down. Parents who want their children to succeed should focus as much on math as they do on reading, or maybe more considering how poor most primary-level teachers are at basic math.
(HT: Instapundit.)
Update 070801:
To clarify, my point isn't that everyone should love math or be great at it, just that people should have an appreciation for numbers and a basic understanding of how they affect our lives.
It's easy for you, Mr. Genius, to pick on the rest of us plebeians. I better look out, I almost got trampled by a high horse.
DD: I'm sorry, I'm not trying to trample anyone, my point is just that people who denigrate math are missing out. Not everyone is going to be a great writer, but everyone can and should learn enough to be "functionally literate". I'm just saying that the same is true for math.
Someone at work was filling out their time sheet the other day and asked me how many hours it was to work from 4:45 to 11:00. I said "six and a quarter". I also said that, in the future, it would be helpful to picture it as 11 minus 4.75, suitable for punching in on a calculator.
This person then asked me how a "quarter hour" would be specified on the time sheet. I said "6.25". *sigh*
It's unfortunate that I had to spell it out so much for this person, but not totally unexpected, I suppose.
(of course, I said a "quarter hour" is "point 25", but I sped it up a bit for the person by saying "just put down 6.25")
The problem with the original NY Times article boils down to the common sociologist’s assertion that the lack of inclusion constitutes explicit exclusion. Because nerds haven’t taken the time to stop studying and start listening to rap music, then according to Mary Bucholtz, they must be actively excluding black culture from their lives. I think there is also a certain level of hypocrisy in a study that seeks to stratify a class of people into one, nailed-down, pigeon-holed set, and then accuse them of being exclusive.
Yes, I used the word "stratify." I learned at least one thing in sociology 101: how to speak pseudo-science.
Mark: That's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
capn: Yes, we must split everyone off into isolated, homogeneous groups so we can study them and categorize people based on their group membership.
Yes, but only if they fit into our preselected groups.
During my university studies, the concept of the social sciences intrigued me. "Oh, this is interesting, using the scientific method to understand the human condition." Before that point, I guess nobody had yet told me that the "science" part was just a joke.
Is this just another example of the Jock/Nerd theory of social conlict?
capn: Good connection, I agree.
capn: Good connection, I agree.
Sorry to be all inclusive, but I object to the statement that mathematics is a hallmark of western civilization. The Arabs and the Chinese, to name but two examples, have their own long traditions of advanced mathematics.
I agree that maths is singled out for exclusion by many people, regardless of social strata.
I suppose for many the qualitative is innately preferred by many to the quantitative, but there is no shortage of cultural cues instructing people that maths is something to be loathed and avoided.
capn_midnight: British rapper Dizzy Rascal has an album called 'maths and english', so called because writing lyrics reminded him of english lessons, while constructing beats on his computer reminded him of maths. It's not a major thing, but it's a small positive (or at least neutral) reference to numeracy in rap music; and while I understand folks who dislike rap music, referring to it as if it's an indicator of stupidity or cultural atrophy sounds a bit like the 1950s mccarthyites complaining about jungle music corrupting the kids. imo that's a slightly racist thing to say.
Sorry to be all inclusive, but I object to the statement that mathematics is a hallmark of western civilization. The Arabs and the Chinese, to name but two examples, have their own long traditions of advanced mathematics.
I agree that maths is singled out for exclusion by many people, regardless of social strata.
I suppose for many the qualitative is innately preferred by many to the quantitative, but there is no shortage of cultural cues instructing people that maths is something to be loathed and avoided.
capn_midnight: British rapper Dizzy Rascal has an album called 'maths and english', so called because writing lyrics reminded him of english lessons, while constructing beats on his computer reminded him of maths. It's not a major thing, but it's a small positive (or at least neutral) reference to numeracy in rap music; and while I understand folks who dislike rap music, referring to it as if it's an indicator of stupidity or cultural atrophy sounds a bit like the 1950s mccarthyites complaining about jungle music corrupting the kids. imo that's a slightly racist thing to say.
jez: I believe the Chinese and Arabs knew arithmetic and basic algebra, but that's all, as far as I know.
jez: I'm not the one who said nerds aren't listening to rap music. The assertion was made by Bucholtz that a lower occurance of nerds listening to rap music meant they were actively excluding black culture from their lives. I'm sorry, I guess I could have made that more clear in my original post.
capn_midnight: that's ok, I'm not quite sure why I made that remark... I think I'm more annoyed at the standards of mainstream hip-hop than anything else. It *is* odd though, that rap music is so predominantly a black thing still. Jazz, r&b etc. were also black phenomena but it didn't take so many years for them to spread across cultures... my own experience is that most of my white young friends like at least some of it, but that might be a uk thing.
mw: The arabs had a lot more than basic algebra. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_mathematics. Pretty elaborate stuff, well beyond high school maths, for example.
The Chinese tradition didn't get as far, but got there many centuries earlier. eg. by 6th century, pi was known to 7 decimal places. (Focus switched towards botany and pharmacology under the Mings).
jez: Interesting entry, but what it mostly mentions are trigonometry, geometry, and algebra, which are high school subjects. Combinatorics and numerical analysis are certainly more advanced applications of algebra, and not normally covered in high school. That's all great, and I'm not saying Muslims couldn't do math or something.
Hmmm, it's difficult because my high-school experience was probably a lot different to yours, but while those subjects are introduced, I don't remember it getting as elaborate as, eg., the general solution to a cubic equation, or non-euclidean geometry, or conic sections. Elsewhere (http://blogs.nature.com/news/blog/2007/02/islamic_tiles_reveal_sophistic.html) I've read about Arabs having developed a group theory (see the complex never-repeating patterns of tessellating mosaic tiles).
Anyway, I think it's clear that mathematics was a rich and integrated part of Arabic culture.