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    Freaking idiots. I'm guessing the author based that statement on this kind of much more reasonable article:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/the-myth-of-im-bad-at-math/280914/

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    Is math ability genetic? Sure, to some degree.

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    For high-school math, inborn talent is much less important than hard work, preparation, and self-confidence.

    Let's go from there to "There is no such thing as a math gift," though, because that's fun!


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    It's especially dangerous since she has the Stanford name as her employer. I doubt that she understands math talent since someone with math talent would likely earn credentials in mathematics rather than math education. It is even worse if she does have any real understanding of math talent, then this is simply marketing slime.

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    Originally Posted by ljoy
    There needs to be a greater acceptance that it is ok for kids to be different. My kids' love for math really shouldn't feel like a threat, any more than your kid's soccer ability is a threat....

    I think that the root of this problem is inequality in this country. Soccer skills aren't intimidating because everyone knows that very, very few highly gifted athletes will actually head to the Olympics or the major leagues. This means that few will make a living in sports outside of teaching PE.

    Alternatively, kids who are cognitively gifted have an apparently endless list of choices: engineering, science, medicine, public health, economics, writing, etc. etc. etc. So every time some grade-skipped giftie notices something that no one else did or develops a math skill well ahead of his classmates, people are reminded that he was born with options they don't have.

    Our society tells people that they need a college degree to survive, yet college is too hard for a lot of people and many others would probably prefer to skip the debt and just go to work at a decent job. Yet those jobs are getting scarcer, and there's so much everyone-must-go-to-college pressure telling kids that they need the degree. Under these circumstances, I can see that mentioning giftedness or the frustrations of math class moving too slowly could make people feel like their children's faces were being rubbed in the dirt of failure.

    I'm not saying that it's right to have to keep quiet about intelligence. I'm saying that the other stuff is wrong.

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    Originally Posted by ultramarina
    Freaking idiots. I'm guessing the author based that statement on this kind of much more reasonable article:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/the-myth-of-im-bad-at-math/280914/

    Quote
    Is math ability genetic? Sure, to some degree.

    Quote
    For high-school math, inborn talent is much less important than hard work, preparation, and self-confidence.

    Let's go from there to "There is no such thing as a math gift," though, because that's fun!

    It sounds like that 10,000 hour theory to me.

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    I think that the root of this problem is inequality in this country.

    I do agree with this to a point. And I do think we have a problem with how work and employment are set up today, and I am in so many ways a huge liberal who supports raising the min wage, etc.

    But I also think anti-intellectualism is playing a role, as is the desire for everyone to be "the same" and the "all children are gifted" mantra. All children are great, but not all children are gifted in math! I wasn't! But I think we're uncomfortable with that, and also, many grownups are uneasy with very smart children. (I know I'm preaching to the choir.)

    Do we as Americans really believe that high intelligence is so great? Do we admire people with natural math talent or do we treat them like weirdos and talk about how they have no common sense? There's always so much chatter about "people skills" and "social skills." I mean, not that I don't think those things are important. But this emphasis is why people who consider skipping are treated like child abusers. We don't really want to have these differences, and so we like to talk a lot about all the other things that make us "the same" or the weaknesses bright kids must inevitably have.

    (Yes, I'm bitter because I really should have skipped my son and didn't, in large part because the social judgment would have been too much for me. There are other reasons, too, but he has wasted so much time and I see a lot of damage to be undone.)

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    Originally Posted by ultramarina
    Quote
    I think that the root of this problem is inequality in this country.

    I do agree with this to a point. And I do think we have a problem with how work and employment are set up today, and I am in so many ways a huge liberal who supports raising the min wage, etc.

    But I also think anti-intellectualism is playing a role, as is the desire for everyone to be "the same" and the "all children are gifted" mantra. All children are great, but not all children are gifted in math! I wasn't! But I think we're uncomfortable with that, and also, many grownups are uneasy with very smart children. (I know I'm preaching to the choir.)

    Do we as Americans really believe that high intelligence is so great? Do we admire people with natural math talent or do we treat them like weirdos and talk about how they have no common sense? There's always so much chatter about "people skills" and "social skills." I mean, not that I don't think those things are important. But this emphasis is why people who consider skipping are treated like child abusers. We don't really want to have these differences, and so we like to talk a lot about all the other things that make us "the same" or the weaknesses bright kids must inevitably have.

    (Yes, I'm bitter because I really should have skipped my son and didn't, in large part because the social judgment would have been too much for me. There are other reasons, too, but he has wasted so much time and I see a lot of damage to be undone.)

    Yes I agree with this. I really need to stop doing this when talking about older dd. I don't have any problem talking about younger dd's athletic gifts without bringing up weaknesses, and get enthusiastic agreement from other parents who see her in action. (Well other than the no fear and low pain tolerance which do not seem so positive to me as her scaredy-cat mom:))

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    Originally Posted by ultramarina
    Quote
    I think that the root of this problem is inequality in this country.

    I do agree with this to a point. And I do think we have a problem with how work and employment are set up today, and I am in so many ways a huge liberal who supports raising the min wage, etc.

    Raising the minimum wage to $15 (a level that has been advocated) will just accelerate automation of jobs such as taking orders at restaurants and checking out at stores. Before that happens, employers will reduce hours, saving the $15/hour cashiers for times of peak store traffic. So total income earned by cashiers may rise much less than hourly income.

    My wife and I are doing what we can to maximize the "human capital" of our children, all of whom are above average in intelligence. It is likely that in their early 20s, with bachelor's degrees, that their labor will be worth more than $15/hour. There are as many people with IQs below 100 as above, and their labor on day one may not be worth $15/hour. Education will not do as much for them as for brighter people, and setting the minimum wage too high may shut them out of the above-ground economy for a lifetime.

    To reduce inequality, encourage the people most likely to have intelligent and productive children to have more of them.

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    Originally Posted by Bostonian
    Originally Posted by ultramarina
    Quote
    I think that the root of this problem is inequality in this country.

    I do agree with this to a point. And I do think we have a problem with how work and employment are set up today, and I am in so many ways a huge liberal who supports raising the min wage, etc.

    Raising the minimum wage to $15 (a level that has been advocated) will just accelerate automation of jobs such as taking orders at restaurants and checking out at stores. Before that happens, employers will reduce hours, saving the $15/hour cashiers for times of peak store traffic. So total income earned by cashiers may rise much less than hourly income.

    My wife and I are doing what we can to maximize the "human capital" of our children, all of whom are above average in intelligence. It is likely that in their early 20s, with bachelor's degrees, that their labor will be worth more than $15/hour. There are as many people with IQs below 100 as above, and their labor on day one may not be worth $15/hour. Education will not do as much for them as for brighter people, and setting the minimum wage too high may shut them out of the above-ground economy for a lifetime.

    To reduce inequality, encourage the people most likely to have intelligent and productive children to have more of them.

    Your argument is flawed. Forcing people to subsist on $9 an hour is not ethical. Raise the minimum wage, institute a fair welfare system and everyone will be better off, physically, morally and financially.

    Also, you're trying to " maximise the human capital" of your kids, but what if they decide they have a calling to be a social worker? Or a teacher? Or if they have an accident or disease and become less mentally able than they are now? That wouldn't make them deserving of homelessness or starvation, would it? Think about how physically demanding it is to move house, or do heavy cleaning. Are the people doing those jobs full time not earning the right to be warm, safe and fed?

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