Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Ok to say you're dumb at maths and yet ashamed of poor literacy?

Many people who have literacy problems go to great lengths to hide it and yet in many circles (not your typical TSR audience granted) it's fine and amusing to say you're dumb at maths?

Also why are people "allowed" to be good at some subjects and not others? I recall that people who were good at sports, art, music and other performance arts could be conferred almost god like status but if you were good at STEM subjects or history and geography etc you were a geeky swot.

Why the difference in attitude to success at different subjects?

Reply 1

felamaslen

Because if you're good at the arts, sports and creative writing (etc.), it means you necessarily have good people skills.

If you're good at STEM subjects, you generally don't have such good people skills (although there are exceptions of course).

People skills implies increased popularity. But then, arguably STEM geniuses have contributed the most to humanity.

Reply 2

Genocidal

They are two different things. People who say they're dumb at mathematics can still add basic numbers together. With reading you can either read or you can't. Reading is an essential skill for being a functional part of the world we live in. So is basic mathematics, but realistically the people claiming to be terrible at mathematics can still manage the basics well enough.

Furthermore, even if they can't do this we all have calculators on our phones, therefore we can still function. There's no real consequence for the average person if they're incapable of dealing with algebra.

Reply 3

Maid Marian

I've never felt much shame in saying I was bad at something. :no:

I was good at Maths and crap at English. Who cares.

Reply 4

Mackay

People say they tend to be "bad" at Maths in terms of GCSE level.

I don't think many people would be comfortable suggesting they couldn't do basic Maths.