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January 11, 2008
Moonbat Math
Posted by Dave Blount at January 11, 2008 11:14 AM
Once again, the liberals in charge of education have outstripped our ability to lampoon them. William M. Briggs, Statistician tells an old joke:
1960s: A logger cuts and sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is four-fifths of that amount. What is his profit?
1970s New-math: A logger exchanges a set (L) of lumber for a set (M) of money. The cardinality of Set M is 100. The set C of production costs contains 20 fewer points. What is the cardinality of Set P of profits?
1980s: A logger cuts and sells a truckload of lumber for $100. Her cost is $80, her profit is $20. Find and circle the number 20.
1990s: An unenlightened logger cuts down a beautiful stand of 100 trees in order to make a $20 profit. Write an essay explaining how you feel about this as a way to make money. Topic for discussion: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel?
After the 1990s, the joke becomes reality. Foreign Policy offers this example of an actual question from a 4th-grade German textbook:
In 2004, a bread roll cost 40 cents. For the wheat that went into it, the farmer received less than 2 cents. What do you think about that?
The genius of moonbattery is that it is so absurd, it can't be caricatured.
Via Foreign Policy.
Hat tips: Buuuuurrrrning Hot, Coyote Blog.
