When I was young, I never thought I wasn't good at math. Sure, I said that math is not my strongest suit. But that was it. I could do math but I couldn't grasp the concepts as fast as the other guys.
This Atlantic article shows a truth which debunks the myth that math is only for those born with genetic ability. One excerpt follows:
So why do we focus on math? For one thing, math skills are increasingly important for getting good jobs these days—so believing you can’t learn math is especially self-destructive. But we also believe that math is the area where America’s “fallacy of inborn ability” is the most entrenched. Math is the great mental bogeyman of an unconfident America. If we can convince you that anyone can learn math, it should be a short step to convincing you that you can learn just about anything, if you work hard enough.
The article goes on to explain that teaching math to youngsters is one part of the challenge. The other, and more crucial part, is convincing them to adopt the right mindset, to believe that no one is "born dumb" and that anyone can master the subject through sheer hard work.
I guess one flaw in my generation's education was that many of us went to Math class with varying degrees of preparedness and the teacher couldn't or didn't account for this. Some excelled while others inevitably wallowed in self-pity, assuming the convenient excuse that one's weak in Math.
Hope the article by Miles Kimball and Noah Smith, The Myth of 'I'm Bad at Math', changes this perception.
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