Mathematics Citizenship

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function"

- Dr. Albert Bartlett


The above is from a lecture I have seen and seen again.  I keep coming back to it because it reminds me of one of the prime reasons I decided to become a math teacher.  Because the world we live in is shaped by powerful mathematical forces which too few of us understand.

Primary example: the economy is expected to grow by a certain percentage every year.  This is a truth so self-evident, so obvious that it seems fanatical to even state it.  Of course our economy must grow, what other option could there ever be?

And yet, I doubt 1 person in 100 truly understands what constant exponential growth means.  To grow by a certain percentage each year means to grow exponentially.  To grow exponentially means to double every so many years.  To double over and over and over again until....what?  Until our riches are so vast that each man has his own armada of gold-plated hummers?  And then to double yet again?  To what end are we growing exponentially?  And even more importantly, is it even possible to continue growing exponentially without end?

Of course it isn't.  Any person with the slightest basis in math will know that.  But our economists, our politicians, our leaders of business and industry are completely and utterly aware of this one simple mathematical truth that governs our entire society.

It is my job as a math teacher to fix that.