The short TED talk by Arthur Benjamin, who is the professor of mathematics and the self-proclaimed ‘Mathemagician,’ left me somewhat befuddled. He spoke about calculus and its use in the real world, about how most of us would not really need it, and about how an emphasis on statistics would help keep our country from being in the economic mess it is currently in (Benjamin, 2009). The reason why I found his statements so confusing is because he seemed to overinflate the importance of statistics while ignoring the reasons why most of us do not need calculus. As Benjamin (2009) mentioned in his brief talk, calculus is used in engineering, economics, medicine, physics, and statistics. All of these are related to high-end, well-paying jobs, which most Americans do not have. In fact, 40% of the labor force in the US is currently being occupied in a low-paying economy, working as cashiers, food preparation, dishwashers, laundry-cleaners, and so forth. Calculus is used even in statistics, in order to check the answers provided by it. Thus, before learning statistics, we need calculus.
As for when I use statistics in real life, it is to understand what various statistical data cited in newspapers means. I do not play poker nor do I gamble at the stock market. And even then, statistics do not play that big of a role. Sure, I can understand them, but chances are I will not go and fact-check any of them, as it would take too much time and effort to do so. Neither would the majority of readers, even if they have had any understanding of statistics. I cannot recall the last time I used calculus outside of the classroom, but the world around us works using those principles. If humanity forgets these principles and leaves the hard math to machines, it will eventually lose grasp and understanding of it. What was understood before would become magic to us in the future. Which is why I think Arthur Benjamin is exaggerating the value of statistics to the average citizen and underestimates the strategic value of calculus.
Reference
Benjamin, A. (2009). Teach statistics before calculus! [Video]. TED.