Math-It Does A Body (of data) Good: or How Cold Calculations Can Craft A Kingdom

Earlier this evening, while walking the aisles of Home Depot in search of a replacement part for my toilet, I was listening to the Business Week podcast about its cover story, Math Will Rock Your World. As far as the business world is concerned, the mathematician is the new MBA. After all, Google is basically a company built on the the stuff. In fact, they can start a new campaign, inspired by Julie:

"Google, Where the [algo]Rithm Method Really Works!"

But I digress. Listening to the podcast, I'd like to relate something that came to my mind after hearing one particular tidbit from the interview with the author.

In speaking about the current two most important languages in the world, English and math, the comment was made that in America, since we are absolutely fluent in English, that we as a society have allowed ourselves to slack off of the other language, math. Instead, we 'outsource' the need to understand higher math to foreigners. I find that premise to be a fairly true measure of America's education system - coast to coast. Of course, it also depends on what is meant by "fluent", but that's a discussion for another time (and another person).

In Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, if I am not mistaken, there is one section in which he writes about the danger of a leader relying too heavily on mercenaries to do one's fighting. The reason being that the time may come when the hired hands realize just how vulnerable the employer is to being overthrown, whether it be done so that the mercenary can take power, or has simply been paid more by someone else. (Click here to visit the free Project Gutenberg Etext of The Prince.) Please don't misinterpret my remarks evoking Machiavelli's words as a direct comparison of 16th century mercenary soldiers with foreign mathematicians in the US! In this case, the 'foreigner' is the one who understands the higher mathematics, be s/he from the US or not. Why shouldn't those who 'get it' simply refuse to drag along those who don't?

(Now, before you finish your 'tut tuts' and lip clicking, let me remind you that I come from a liberal arts background with a more than necessary (read: unhealthy) amount of time spent studying literature. As such, I feel completely at ease with the process of attaching my own meanings to words. If you don't get it, well, why should I help?)

You laugh, but maybe 42 really is the answer! Did you get the question?