The "mathemagician" says that calculus, while important, should not be the destination to which all mathematical instruction leads; instead, beginning at an early age, students should be prepared for the digital age by learning statistics and probability. [3 minute video below]
As someone who has taken a good deal of both statistics/probability and calculus as a double major in statistics and economics, I believe, blasphemously, that we need less emphasis -- at least on the lower levels -- on math of both kinds. A blog post is not the place to describe my convoluted reasoning, but let me just say, especially in economics, the use of formulas to describe simple relationships that can be explained with words seems, to me, plainly mishandled. And I am skeptical of the real-world value of math to most people, especially compared to neglected alternatives.
(Please no hate mail, math-lovers. I promise I am not a bad guy.)
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