I always thought my mathematics were a bit weak,  and that teaching at my school on this subject was poor, until I read an article in the New York Times of February 28th 2016 by Andrew Hacker. The author quoted a national survey that found that 82% of all Americans could not compute the cost of a carpet when told its dimensions and square-yard price.  Really?

America comes 22nd in the league of numeracy, after Estonia and Cyprus.  It seems that people leave high school innumerate and that they get to college without being able to do simple additions and subtractions in their heads.  They find decimals and ratios difficult , which raises the question why they are accepted for higher education. It baffles me.  At my university they had a numeracy exam before you even started your chosen subject.

The writer says that students protest that the elements of basic numeracy are covered in statistics.  But many students are taught binomial random variables, least- square regression lines, pooled sample standard errors and so on without being able to do a rough and ready long division in their heads.  (admission – I haven’t a clue what these statistical devices are).  It turns out that American schools teach arithmetic in  early childhood, but move far too quickly onto geometry and algebra, without securing the basics.  Geometry and algebra are seldom of practical use to them.  As the author says, “All those X’s and “Y’s” can inhibit becoming deft with everyday digits”.

What has this to do with an Epicurean life?  If you can’t do simple arithmetic in your head you are never quite sure whether you are getting a bargain or whether a cashier is even giving you the correct change.  You are in a regular state of uncertainty, are not in charge of your life and can have no peace of mind. Nor will you hold down a job, likely as not.  This is neither necessary nor desirable  to a pleasant life. Indeed, it is perverse.