Educational Value: Math vs. Biology

In My Humble Opinion
1

Simple question: Which do you think is more valued or important?

I would like to think that I have an extensive knowledge re: human biology, evolution and anatomy. I’m about halfway through a Master’s degree in Neurobiology, and while I would like to think that I’m smarter than the average bear, My Dear Mother seems to think that her husband is smarter than I am because he can do simple math calculations in his head (he’s a carpenter by trade, but since retired). While I don’t think that he’s actually all that intelligent, he actually is a good carpenter. Hell, he built his own home, and it’s not a shack, so I will give him that to his credit (He did require help from the city permit folks, like contractors to do the geology study, zoning and what not). So I do want to give him his due. My infirm mother, with not a few medical maladies due to her advanced age, keeps asking me medical questions and wants me to confirm the opinions of her doctors when she comes home from medical exams and tests and what not. My best friend is an RN, so we do converse about her queries, usually with much discussion. More often than not, we usually concur with her MD’s advice. So she’s okay with the advice from her docs, as long as my friend and I say it’s okay. She usually won’t follow the advice of her doctors unless my friend and I give the okay. I know it is stupid, but that’s the way My Dear Mother is. I can’t make her change her mind.

The question came up the other day when she asked me a question about retail sales. She asked me if something cost $300 for a gross of such and such item, and got upset with me that I couldn’t just rifle off the question from the top of my head. (It took me more than a few seconds, but I know that each item costs just over $2 each. So nyahh. It just took me a while. Dear Old Mum says her hubby could have done the math in just under two seconds, and put me into the grinder for not being as proficient.)

On my side, she routinely asks me to verify questions re: her A1C levels (she’s diabetic), her potassium levels, her diet, her weight, BP, and how important it was to have her spleen removed after a car accident. These are questions I feel she should be asking her doctor, but as I said, she’s more confident in my answers versus her doctors’ opinions, much to my disagreement. She’s just like that. I say that she should trust what her docs say, but, for some reason, she trusts my (and my RN friend’s) opinon more. So that’s that.

Granted, I am not an MD, nor do I claim to play one on TV, but I like to think that I know what I am talking about when Dear Old Mum asks me questions. I feel that I have a greater than average working knowledge of the human condition. I understand that general biology, to include a working knowledge of chemistry, involves a lot of math. I generally rely on a calculator for this type of stuff. It is a generally accepted office tool, much like a copier or a printer, and one is not frowned upon if one uses a calculator to do math. At least, not in my office.

Here’s my basic question: Which is considered by the teeming millions to be a greater value? The ability to do math in your head, or a knowledge of how the human body works (to include metabolism, biology, diet advice and anatomical ailments).

2

Hmmm, one of my bachelor’s degrees is in biology/neuroscience, whereas I detested math classes, so that’s where I’m coming from. In my opinion they’re equally important up to a certain point, after which they’re only useful as specialist knowledge.

For math, the average intelligent adult should know arithmetic, geometry, statistics, and bare-basics algebra. Past that, the higher algebra and discrete mathematics and calculus isn’t much use in everyday situations.

For biology, I think that everything I learned in the first three years of my four-year degree was useful–all of the general principles about animal physiology, from protein synthesis and DNA copy/repair to cellular anatomy and The Awesome Importance Of Osmosis. The fourth year was fiddly labs and reading papers about specific proteins and their behaviors, and that was specialist knowledge and not really useful (except insofar as we were learning how to read papers and do lab techniques).

Given that No Child Left Behind focuses on math and reading to the complete detriment of science and social studies, I’d sadly have to say that math is more valued.

3

Much as I despise NCLB in many respects, I do not think that you would have got very far as a biologist if you could not read fluently, with good comprehension, and do high-school level math.

I am pretty sure neurobiologists, and actually all biologists, need more advanced math skills than a carpenter, even if they do not need to be so good at doing arithmetic in their heads.

Math skills that go beyond those that a biologist would need are likely to have only very specialized, narrow ranges of application.

On the other hand, how much biology do most people really need? How to make and avoid making babies; how to avoid infecting yourself and others with germs: for a lot of people, that is about it.

4

I guess I’d say biology, because it pays my bills. But you’re comparing a relatively basic skill with a fairly advanced set of knowledge, so it’s kind of apples/oranges.

Doing arithmetic rapidly and accurately in your head probably comes in handy just about every day. But while it’s definitely a useful skill, it basically just involves practicing concepts that you learned in grade school. Whether it takes you 2 seconds or 20 seconds to figure out 15% of a bill isn’t really important in everyday life, as long as you can figure it out in the end.

Your deep understanding of biology, on the other hand, required years of education into your mid to late 20’s, if you’re like me. The concepts involved are more numerous and difficult than the ones dealing with arithmetic, so coming by this knowledge is a more impressive feat than mastering arithmetic. However, let’s face it, this specialized knowledge isn’t helping through your day-to-day routine, except for when you’re wearing your neurobiologist hat. If you suddenly had your dad’s quick arithmetic ability, you’d find yourself using it every day, in all kinds of situations. If you gave your dad your knowledge of biology, it probably wouldn’t help him out too much. Even with all your bio knowledge, if you have a sharp pain in your abdomen next to your belly button, you still go to a doctor. You may be able to speculate as to what exactly is causing your pain, maybe it’s appendicitis, or it could be just gas, or whatever. But you’re not going to fix the problem, or even properly diagnose it. Having a little bit of medical knowledge (beyond first aid) can be worse than having none because of the tendency to self-diagnose rather than deferring to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. It’s why MDs still go to doctors when they’re sick.

I was pre-med in undergrad (I was a bio major, and at my school bio majors were pre-med pretty much by default), and it took me a while to realize that biology and medicine are really very different. I remember how all of us used to diagnose our friends when they were sick, etc. Once when I had a sore throat, my girlfriend swore up and down that it was strep and that I had to go to the health center for treatment. She said she could see the pustules in my throat, that it even smelled like strep. Went to the health center, told the doctor my symptoms, and also what my girlfriend said. He took one look at my throat and said “Nope. It’s a virus going around, it’ll clear up in a week. Let me guess, your girlfriend’s pre-med?”

5

Neither of the above. But, if you wanna really have your sh*t together, make sure you can list all the current standings on American Idol.

6

My wife is a biologist, and I’m a computer scientist, so I’d say they are equal. She doesn’t need much math (she did a dose and dosage book for nurses, but that is junior high math at best) and I don’t need much biology.
However, biology is quite handy at understanding what the doctor tells you sometimes. But math is useful in figuring out that the deal the car salesman is offering is a ripoff. So, still tied.

7

I suspect, but cannot cite evidence, that people who are particvularly good at mental calculation are so at least partially because it comes naturally to them, rather than as a result of education. I do know that some professional mathematicians are not particularly good at calculation (kind of like some professional writers are not particularly good at spelling), and that knowledge of mathematical facts and/or the ability to “do math” at a high level (proving theorems, solving problems, etc.) does not necessarily correlate with the ability to perform rapid mental calculations. So, you’re comparing a skill or talent with the possession a body of knowledge, which seems kind of appley-orangey.

8

Since you’re looking for opinions, I’ll move this to IMHO (from MPSIMS).

9

Whichever you’re not familiar with at a basic level is more important.

10

The depth and thoroughness of understanding and ability to use the knowledge is more important than any specific area of study. That’s what education was supposed to be about. Now-a-days it’s just a job training program.

11

You are asking for a comparison between the ability do arithmetic in your head and a fairly advanced knowledge of neurobiology. The latter wins hands down. I can’t imagine a contrary view. I can multiply three digit numbers in my head, but that is an utterly useless skill. Yes, I use some elementary number theoretic tricks to help me. I am also a mathematician, but I’d be lost without a pad and pencil. If you asked for a comparison between knowing advanced math and advanced biology, I would choose the former, but I could not give an objective reason.

12

I’m a biologist, but I also use mathematics on the job. While having a biology degree (or life science/environmental science degree) was a requirement for me to get hired, I would not be able to do my job if I didn’t know how to do math. I rely much more on math than I do biology.

Having a background in biology helps me to understand the natural world, no doubt. I love being able to identify trees and knowing what makes them grow, and being able to read a scientific paper and not have to look up all the technical words. But anyone who is curious enough can find these answers out just by reading enough. Being formally schooled in the subject taught me the vastness of knowledge out there, but I have no doubt that I could have taught myself most of it all on my own, given enough time and money.

On the other hand, I do not think I could have taught myself math. Doing math is much more than being able to carry the one in your head (something I actually have a hard time doing). Excel does all of my calculations for me, so I don’t sweat that kind of stuff. But I have to know enough about math to tell Excel what to do. I may not be able to calculate 16% of something that’s already marked down by 40% in my head, but I know the steps required to figure it out. If I had trouble handling a problem like this, then I wouldn’t be able to do my job.

In summary, I think I could “wing it” without having a strong background in biology. I do not think I could say the same for math.