if all citizens - know the probability and statistics, we would not be in the economic mess we are in today
Now, if President Obama invited me to become the next Tsar of mathematics, I have a proposal that I think a lot would improve the teaching of mathematics in this country. It would be easy to implement and inexpensive.
The mathematics program we have now is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra. And everything we learn later goes to a single subject. On top of this pyramid, there is the mathematical analysis. And I'm here to say that I think that is wrong for the top of the pyramid ... the top right - that all our students, each graduate student should know - should be the statistics: the probability and statistics. (Applause)
I mean, do not get me wrong, the analysis is an important subject. And 'one of the great products of the mind human. The laws of nature are written in language analysis. And every student who studies mathematics, science, engineering, economics, should definitely learn the analysis before the end of the first year of college. But I'm here to say, as a university teacher of mathematics, which very few people use the mathematical analysis in a conscious and meaningful in their lives every day. On the other hand, statistics - and 'a matter which could and should be used daily. Right? E 'risk. E 'award. E 'randomness. E 'understand the data.
I think that if our students if our high school students - if all American citizens - to know the probability and statistics, not we would be in the economic mess we find ourselves in today. Not only that - thanks - not only this ... [But] if taught properly, can be very funny. I mean, the probability and statistics are the mathematics of games and gambling. They analyze trends. They predict the future. Look, the world has changed from analog to digital. And now that our mathematics program change from analog to digital. From the classical continuous mathematics, the most modern discrete mathematics. The mathematics of uncertainty, the randomness of the data - the probability and statistics.
summary, rather than our students learn the concepts of analysis, I think it would be much more important that they all knew what "two standard deviations from the mean" mean. And that's what I mean (average). Thank you very much. (Applause)
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