Its vacation time and most of us are back to their homes and loved ones. I stayed back in Vancouver though. I have been catching up with my sleep and looking forward to whats in store in post core. The Christmas is approaching and the atmosphere in Vancouver is lighting up. The winter is mild compared to what we had last month. Hope it stays like this for the rest of the winter !
I happened to bump on an interesting book, and I believe that a prospective MBA should read it. Not only is it interesting but it makes sense to a MBA who will be facing lot of such practical stats in future.
I am not a voracious reader but do read good books once in a while. Most of the times boredom gets to me before I finish the book. So when I read a book fully, it has to be an interesting read. ‘Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences’ is one such read.
Its not a comedy but it has humor, its not serious book either but it has some advice. John Allen Paulos, a mathematician and the author of this book, explains how mathematical innumeracy has gripped the world. You need not understand math to enjoy the book. As a matter of fact, you will enjoy more if you are uncomfortable with math. Needless to say that those who are comfortable with numbers ought to read it !
John talks about seemingly difficult but interesting findings like why there is a 99% probability that you have just inhaled the same molecule that Julius Caesar exhaled when he said “You too, Brutus” before dying, and how strange coincidences are not so strange in the light of simple probability rules and how there are only a few linkages between you and Barack Obama.
Another chapter talks about some of the pseudosciences and why they are “pseudosciences” in the mathematics framework. I found the read about extraterrestrial life most fascinating. It talks about why there are possibly many life forms in our galaxy but why the probability of them coming to visit us is minuscule. Sounds cool, aint it?
Finally, he talks about how our education system should be made more math friendly so that early math haters could benefit tremendously. I would like to cite few lines:
“I sometimes think it would be a good idea if math professors and elementary-school teachers switched places for a few weeks each year. No harm would come to the math majors and graduate students (in fact, the latter might learn something from the former), while the third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders might greatly benefit from exposure to mathematical puzzles and games competently presented.”
Overall, its an interesting read which makes one think and shows the unexplored perspective to look at statistics and pseudosciences and life.
