Re: [Phys-l] innumeracy (semantic quibble)

["John M Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

Yes, true.  But in math there has been discussion of numeracy.  It is 
now generally taken to mean understanding numbers, but not specific 
numbers such as populations... except possibly in the extremes such as 
the population of the US is 500.

And yes, I could have used the word ignorance, but common usage would 
be to say geographical illiteracy.  We generally live in a comfortable 
country where trivia is important to many people.  Under the Hapsburgs 
the papers could print any scandal they wished except for anything 
related to the monarchy.  The populace was lulled into coplacency by 
romatic balls and entertainments.  We have sports they had Viennese 
balls.  So knowledge of political and geographical things is just not 
on the radar for most people.  After all look what is on TV!

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

> | 
> | People generally can not tell you where the names for the 
> | days of the week came from, the time it takes for light to 
> | travel from the sun to the Earth, the location of Austria, 
> | the date (within 20 years) of the Civil War, the name of the 
> | secretary of state...  All of these are illiteracy, but not 
> | innumeracy.  How many can name the composer of La Boheme?  Or 
> | where did Dante put Lucifer?  What colors are a Monarch 
> | butterfly?  Or how about the sign "Ye olde coffe shop", how 
> | was it pronounced in old English?  "The olde coffe shop", 
> | because the Y was originally a thorn, with a dot over the y, 
> | which was an old English letter pronounced th.
>
> Personally I'd classify most of the examples above as examples of
> "ignorance" not of "illiteracy".  As in, person X is ignorant of the
> location of Austria; they aren't illiterate of the location.
>
> (Admittedly the term literate is often used as a neologism to mean
> knowledgeable.)
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