The Problem Of Learning Many Math Subjects Except Basic Economic And Financial Literacy

It's a shame really that a certain 4Ps obsessed old man is so arrogant because he has a degree in Mathematics and a systems analyst yet he believes in all his nonsense. There's the saying that you can be highly educated yet you can also be very stupid at the same time. Do you remember the story of the scholars and the lion? We have to realize that some of the most stupid people have a college degree, a masteral degree, a doctorate degree, may even have graduated from difficult to enter to schools with very high grades -- yet one can be very stupid at the same time. There are varying degrees of stupid and yet we do realize that stupid people come in different forms and not just mere academic deficiencies. The same can apply to how math education is carried out -- learning many math subjects but never learning financial and economic literacy. Besides, how can you learn basic economics that well if you just learned it for one year in the graduating year?

Well geometry has its uses, trigonometry has its uses, calculus has its uses, algebra is the most commonly used math, statistics is done in order to do data gathering and analysis -- all these math subjects have their application depending on which field. The problem isn't teaching math subjects that not everyone would be using because it helps people decide which subjects they will be taking (ex. people not so good in math should take courses that require less math) but is our teaching of math becoming too theoretical that many Filipinos just end up asking, "How am I going to apply this in my work?" while desiring to take a math-intensive course such as computer science related courses.

What's the proof of financial illiteracy? I decided to use Inquirer (a Yellowtard media) to actually raise a point with financial illiteracy just today. So really that 4Ps obsessed old man better tell me at how his beloved 4Ps can help improve it? It's because of financial illiteracy that people would rather sign up for 4Ps than opt for an open economy. The same stupid old man with a math degree then says that he's not against foreign investment -- while still thinking 60-40 doesn't matter or that a nation can do without foreign investments but not without 4Ps. He's talking on both sides of his mouth isn't he? Some Filipinos even still believe in the lie that activists tell them such the lies from the stupid Filipino "nationalists" such as the recent tax reform law to be the cause of inflation or that only foreign investors will get rich if you allow them to invest in the Philippines. Not to mention it may be observed that many people who only know how to spend but not how to save have backwards economic thinking.

I was wondering if it's possible to actually start mixing the math subjects together with some business-related or financial-related problems for a start. Math isn't going to be fun if all you do is deal with numbers but never dealing with how to apply it. I remembered the business calculus subject in college -- I think calculus in middle school and high school can teach basic business and economic calculus problems one step at a time. Basic algebra is commonly used in finding for the interest, principal, rate and time interchangeably or the original price before the discount happened. Teaching financial applications in mathematics where it can be a taught can be the start of encouraging financial and economic literacy.

Educators need to really be alarmed at the very low literacy rate of Filipinos with finances. It's time to pull out things that they were always used to such as the poor custom of overspending. It's time they learn how to manage their finances properly and not just get an education, get a diploma but never learn how to manage their finances.