TED Math talk - thought some might find interesting!

[elanorh]

A friend sent me this TED link today.  I've only read the summary but thought it might spark some interesting conversations here so am sharing with everyone:

http://www.good.is/post/math-isn-t-just-computation-so-why-is-that-all-we-teach/

I don't think that computation should be thrown out - there is value in knowing how to do things with pen and paper - but I think the other aspects of math that he discusses certainly ought to be taught more.  Dh (an architectural engineer) said, when I read him the summary, "Well that would make math class much more interesting than all the dry stuff!" 

[Leav97]

I don't know the speaker.  I do wonder how much time he has spent teaching.  You can't verify results if you don't completely understand how to do the computation and that takes time.  I don't think the answer to math education is letting the computer do the computations.