THE GREAT SCAM. Opinion Section by David Cerdá

If I’m going to be a YouTuber, what do I need maths for?

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David Cerdá

The mentality of the slave—studying in order to become employable—produces utilitarian monstrosities, among them the contempt for mathematics, now amplified by a rather silly form of tech worship. And yet, like literature and sensitivity, mathematics must hold a privileged place in the construction of a republican school.

I once saw a T-shirt with this very slogan emblazoned across it. If I take it seriously enough to write about, it’s because I’ve heard versions of the same phrase repeated more than once.

The root of the disarray lies in the idea that one studies in order to get a job—a servile idea. From there, it logically follows that one studies only as much as is necessary to reach that goal. And once you’ve sold the illusion that “YouTuber” is a viable job title, it’s hardly surprising that so many young people have set their sights on it. There are, globally, some sixty-five million content creators on YouTube, of whom it is estimated that just 0.04%—about twenty-five thousand people, worldwide—can actually earn a living from it. In Spain, that probably amounts to just over a thousand. By contrast, there are roughly 850,000 professional drivers, and the country will need another hundred thousand or so by 2030. Just to put things into perspective.

But let’s return to the crude version of the argument, minus the spectacle: what use are maths? Reading comprehension and the humanities have, and rightly so, found plenty of defenders. Mathematics, not so much. Understandably, perhaps: the best pens belong, almost by definition, to the literary camp. We don’t get an Einstein— “pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas”—or a du Sautoy— “mathematics is not just a tool for solving problems, but a way of thinking and seeing the world”—every day. So, let’s be clear: language and mathematics are the twin pillars on which the entire edifice of thought—and thus of education—rests. We should aim to be highly proficient in both.

To solve complex problems: that is already, whether we realise it or not, the human condition—and a noble one at that. So not just to be a YouTuber, but to do anything at all, one needs mathematics, which—as Einstein put it—is simply logic by another name. What matters is not the ability to crank out integrals or calculate surface areas or isolate the value of x (AI can do all that now, and better), but the architectural capacity to analyse, to follow the thread of a dilemma, to imagine ways out of the labyrinth, to draft cathedrals—whether physical or mental. What’s at stake, ultimately, is the production of mental order—an order that benefits not only society at large but above all ourselves. Even emotional order, if you like. And civic order too—especially when it comes time to vote.

People do not “vote badly” simply because they vote for someone other than our preferred candidate. They vote badly because, across the ideological spectrum—including our own side—there are many who struggle to grasp that two plus two equals four.

But let’s go back to the beginning. It is the “what’s the use of…” reasoning that must be eradicated. That is what must be avoided at all costs: the logic of the servus, the slave. And mathematics, as the bedrock of reasoning, is also the foundation of citizenship—and of the republican school, which, as Condorcet insisted, is not there to train citizens in obedience, but in critical vigilance towards those who govern them.

Condorcet wanted the citizen to submit to laws critically—to love them, yes, but without losing the capacity to judge them. One without the other does not constitute a true civic education. In the end, it’s about knowing how to do the maths, because our liberty—taxes, pensions, the privileges of the elite—depends on our capacity to make numerical sense of the polis. Those who turn their backs on mathematics turn their backs on reality itself.

Now that AI is booming, the same people who couldn’t keep quiet when Excel came along, insist like a dog with a bone. (They’ve been saying the same thing since the calculator, if not the abacus.) This time it’s: why bother learning maths at all?

These people fall into two categories: those who’ve always hated maths and want others to hate it too, so as to even the score; and those who had the privilege of mastering it, but have no intention of letting the rabble do the same.

“Mathematics is the queen of the sciences”, said Gauss—and he knew what he was talking about. To speak of science is to speak of knowledge, and therefore of philosophy. How, for heaven’s sake, are you going to construct a coherent argument or make sense of the world if you can’t handle a simple set of equations?

To educate oneself is to build a mind—and by extension, a heart. That is what education is ultimately about: led no ‘what’s the point?’ throw us off course.

Source: educational EVIDENCE

Rights: Creative Commons