A numeracy test

I like to brag.

• I tell kids that I graduated in the upper 90% of my high school class.
• I tell my elderly clients to whom I give rides that I bring back over 80% of my passengers alive.
• I tell blog readers that I am among the top 5% of innumerate writers in the world.

It is sad how many folks fail to chuckle when they hear these statements. 

I’ve long ranted about the need for increased attention to numeracy - the ability to use, interpret and communicate mathematical information to solve real-world problems.*

A critical component of numeracy for me is the ability to put numbers in context. A somewhat recent example is when I visited a cardiologist who prescribed a medication that would have cost me about $600 a month for the rest of my life. Its purpose was to lower my chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

“By how much would it lower the chance?” I asked.

“By 50%,” she exclaimed.

“And what are my current chances of a heart attack or stroke?”

“About 2%,” she admitted.

“So I am paying $600 for the rest of my life to have my chance of a heart attack really lowered by 1%.”

I didn’t have the prescription filled. I’m still alive and kicking two years later and with $14,400 more in my health savings account for more important costs when needed.

I believe in data. I like statistically verified conclusions. But I always try to look at the context and put numbers in their place. 

Is it worth paying ten times the cost for two times the value?

Past rants:

•  If they let me design the math curriculum
• Applied Math
• Do the Math
• Numeracy, Not Math - a Rant
• Factfullness - A Must Read

Comments

[Jim]

Yes! We need more talk of big numbers and how to put things in context. Students need much more real world examples, not only to get what’s going on in the news but also for personal financial decision making.

[Doug Johnson]

I always found that when math had some real world application, not just theory, I did much better. I disliked algebra, but loved geometry and statistics. Start with "why," right?

Thanks for the comment,

Doug

[Tim Stahmer]

For the first 18 years of my career, I taught (or attempted to teach) middle and high school students the intricacies of Algebra, Geometry, and other topics they would likely never use as adults. I would love to have taken a machete to that "standard" curriculum and replaced most of it with a good program that had the kids investigate how to deal with the kinds of numbers thrown at us all the time. Like the discussion with your doctor or the scary studies and polls reported with absolutely no context in popular media.

I have a long rant on this topic that's been sitting in my editor for months. Maybe it's time to finish it. :)

[Tim]

12 years ago I paid $8 for a Chipotle burrito and $77K the next day for a brand new stent. The burrito and stent have long since been paid for but I continue to pay the pharmacy a good chunk of money every month to avoid the aforementioned burrito and stent and will continue to do so. I can always make more money but it is difficult to make more time.

Keep on that bicycle and stay healthy my friend!