Contrariwise

You are talking to a colleague — seemingly intelligent, born and raised in the United States — and you realize that the person has an amazing gap in his or her knowledge. Of the following, which would disturb you most about this person?

1. He or she doesnt have a clear idea of what countries we fought in World War II.
2. He or she doesnt understand the difference between a star and a planet.
3. He or she cannot name the current vice president of the United States.
4. He or she cannot locate Europe on a map.
5. He or she cannot tell you what 50 percent of 100 is.

I picked the last one. Brendan faced that with his algebra and geometry students this year. If you can’t multiply fractions, solving two-step equations is going to be impossible. I think you should know where Europe is, but not knowing 50 percent of 100 is ridiculous even for high school students, let alone adults.

via Poll-ish Humor, Nov. 25: Door 2, by Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post