Chapter 79.9: Innumeracy, Thy Name is Chucklehead

Thank God I'm not the only person who complains about innumeracy! In a recent column in Forbes, Rich Karlgaard rails against the "American math chuckleheads" who thought that instead of an $85 billion bailout for AIG, each Amerian adult should get their share of that amount. The problem is they don't know how to do math. While they thought the simple division meant the 200 million American adults would receive $425,000 each, it actually breaks down to $425 each.

I mean, come on, wasn't it obvious that $425,000 simply couldn't be right and that they needed to punch the numbers back into the calculator to do things over, only this time with the right number of zeroes?

Unfortunately, using chucklehead math, there's simply not enough money in the world to pay for all the math tutors required to retrain math-challenged Americans. Here's a low-cost alternative: Read John Allen Paulos's book Innumeracy and learn how to think logically. These days, we could all use a little help in the wallet.

Here's a math problem to get you started: If a coffee costs $2 at the corner store and you drink two cups a day each day of the work week, how much do you spend on coffee per month? Per year?

Short answer, too much. Long answer is $20 per week, $80-$100 per month, and $1000 per year (assuming two weeks off for vacation). Wouldn't you like to have another thousand dollars in your pocket? This is why I drink the free stuff at the office.

Thank God I don't smoke!