Math 101

2 + 2 = ?

You might have seen our stable genius president claiming that incoming students at Harvard University, where young Barron will NOT be continuing his higher education, cannot answer this simple equation of arithmetic.  

Of course that's a ridiculous statement. Expelled from the mouth of man who makes nothing but ridiculous statements (lies) to make his nonsensical point. Whether it's about colleges, trophy wives, electrical boats, man eating sharks, Hannibal Lecter, or most ironically 'acing his Cognitive Test.'

But, like it or not, it sticks. 

If I may use the vernacular of the day, he's putting out fresh red meat for his carnivorous Red Hat base, who can no longer hunt for themselves (see critical thinking) and depend on his firehose distribution of bullcockery on an hourly basis.

Harvard is NOT teaching remedial math. 

According to James Chisholm, spokesperson for the university's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, they do offer Math MA5, a college level calculus class designed to reinforce algebraic background necessary for the successful completion of required Calculus course.

Excuse me for nerding out, but this is kind of dear to my heart. I was a Math Minor in college. I still have a slew of Math textbooks gathering dust in my garage. 

Let's take a trip back to high school, shall we. 

Most students take algebra in 8th or 9th grade. It is difficult, to say the least, because it involves a whole new language. Whereas before young minds had to navigate numbers, now thanks to the Greeks who herded sheep 4000 years ago, students had to learn add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers and letters.

Algebra, was then followed by Geometry and Trigonometry. Most students don't go beyond this. And high schools of lesser rigor don't even require a journey this far. BTW, it seems like a good time to mention that the most recent undergraduate class at Harvard had a Math SAT score of 790. 

I had a 660 and my parents dreamt of my future career as an engineer. Or a physicist. Instead, I played with words and wrote crappy ads about fizzy sugar water, computer printers and Chinese-made sneakers.

But here's the thing, collegiate Math level courses are HARD. Incredibly hard. I look at some of the stuff I knew back then and scratch my now bald head, "How did I do that?" and "What's this fascination with parabolas?"

The answer, and it's clear why the President doesn't get this, is it takes hard work. And consistency. Miss a class or a day or a week of Math classes and you will fall far, far behind. I know from the two classes I had to repeat for credit. 

Given that most college freshmen and freshwomen, haven't taken algebra for 3-4 years, since high school, it is completely understandable why they would need to refresh those skills in order to tackle Calculus 1.

Of course Trump doesn't understand this. He doesn't understand that if a shark is within ten foot of a electric powered vehicle submerged in highly charged water he too would be electrocuted. 

Also, just because, I love this: 

Person Woman Man Camera TV