The Math Gap

It's Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 and I am just catching up on some of the past week's reading.  This morning I was rewarded with something that made me feel hopeful.

Why Democracy Lives and Dies by Math:  A documentary filmmaker and a mathematician discuss our fear of numbers and its civic costs.  By Siobhan Roberts, published in the New York Times on October 24, 2024 and updated on October 25, 29024.

"Math is power" is the tag line of a new documentary by the director Vicki Abeles titled "Counted Out" which explores the intersection of mathematics, civil rights and democracy.  The film is currently being shown at festivals and community screenings and will have a limited theatrical release next year.

This piece is actually an interview with Siobhan Roberts speaking with Vick Abeles and Ismar Volic, a professor at Wellesley College and a founder, in 2019, of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

Super important topic and interview.  I cannot wait to see the documentary.  Incidentally, I am one of those who have math anxiety.  Having said this, the interview and film (watch the trailer imbedded in the article) are spot-on highlighting the deficiencies in our education and political systems.  Even the Supreme Court justices were befuddled by a straightforward argument.  Two justices used the word "gobbledegook".  When a Supreme Court justices says things like this, we should know there is trouble on the horizon.  Albeit we should know this anyway.  

To me this is an example of real people using their knowledge and expertise and working to make real change.  It is up to all of us to educate ourselves with the tools that are all around us.  I believe that more and more people are paying attention.

If you haven't already voted, vote on Tuesday, November 5th, 2024 and vote in such a way that change can begin taking the baby steps necessary to heal our country.  I can't tell anybody how to vote, but please let's not destroy our country. Change will not happen overnight, but it has to start somewhere.        


 

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