Do you want to see the *dumbest* approach to math you’ll see today? If so, behold this presentation from the University of Michigan:
http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~glarose/dept/teaching/resources/RehumanizingMathematicsSlides.pdf
If that link doesn’t work, the Wayback Machine can hook you up:
This presentation is on the topic of “Rehumanizing Mathematics” by one Rochelle Gutiérrez. Right from the get-go you can tell it’s stupid… if there’s one thing mathematics is *not* it’s “humanized.” Math doesn’t care about your feelings. Nor your politics, religion, ethnicity, family history, gender or any other kind of identity. 1+1=2 no matter your beliefs on the matter. 1+1=2 even if you are *dead,* or you are a parrot, or a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri, or a godlike entity from beyond the Antares maelstrom. And yet…
1. How we think/talk about our work matters
• Diversity (attention to difference, also used when no difference, often ignores history, no attention to positionality)
• Equity (often highlights universal approaches, closing achievement gaps, leaky STEM pipelines)
• Inclusion (tolerate, allow, participate on own terms, focus on individuals, understand exclusion)
• Centering historically oppressed (place at the core, dedicate resources and energy there, requires political clarity)
Ummm… no.
If you ever wonder why our infrastructure is falling apart and we can’t seem to do Great Things anymore… well, here ya go.
If you *really* want to burn off some excess brain cells and don’t have the funds for a few gallons of white lightning, watching this video will probably help. It’s about an hour of the person responsible for the above presentation. I can’t *really* say what all’s in it, as I only got a few seconds in before my Brain Worms alarm went off: “I just want to start by acknowledging that as a white settler nation we are standing on stolen grounds…” Blah, blah, virtue signal blah. What do you want to bet she happily collects those white settler dollars?
Also: anyone else get a distinct AOC vibe from her voice? Yeah, that’s not a compliment.
And here’s an idea. if you believe that this is a “white settler nation” *and* that that’s a bad thing…
