So I was discussing the other day with my brother which important life skill we each think is more important. Numeracy (numbers, mathematics, etc) or Literacy (speaking / listening / writing language)?
I personally had the opinion that literacy was only slightly more important than numeracy. Whereas my brother had the argument that numeracy was more important than literacy. I will say that I think that they are both of equal importance, but I do think that literacy has a tiny bit more importance than numeracy. When I say literacy though, I mean it dating back to the days of symbols on cave walls and so on, they were used to symbolise a meaning of something that someone else could understand, they could read / interpret it to know something.
Which skill do you think is more important? Numeracy or Literacy? And whilst we’re at it…Do you think you could live with one but not the other?
It isn’t about voting for what you’re best at and commenting on how you are in these skills. I’m the same, I’m good at literacy but terrible with maths / numeracy and the like, but it doesn’t impact my views or vote in this thread. I just happen to have the belief that literacy is that tiny bit more important than numeracy, as a skill.
Wow, looks like most people think it is Literacy > Numeracy then! I see both sides of the arguments really but as I said, I only think that literacy is a tiny bit more important than numeracy. Some very interesting thoughts and views though on this topic and I’ve definitely taken away things from others regarding how important numeracy is in the world.
Glad I’ve now got all of you to back me up against my debate with my brother too haha
I do agree that literacy can be somewhat more important than numeracy, but I think that skills with numbers move beyond whether or not you count regularly in your day to day life. Just as reading books can expand your mental capacity and understanding of the world around you, being able to work through certain math problems develop your ability to use logic to answer questions and solve problems. I found this as part of the definition of numeracy:
To be numerically literate, a person has to be comfortable with logic and reasoning
So I believe that if you are really talking about the basics for survival in many countries around the world, literacy is absolutely necessary because you need to know how to read. However if you want to move beyond that and not have to depend on so many external sources (that are created/designed by people that are exceptional in numeracy) then numeracy grows in importance.
numbers are equally important in life … everything in this world is related to numbers if a person who doesnt know the language or basically cannot communicate can always show some hand movements to make the other person understand but for numbers you got to do it yourself even to use a calculator u need to have an idea of how to use it both are important but numeracy is a bit more important than literacy after all money is a number game and money is power
While I love to attack the occasional mathematical problem every once in a while, I don’t feel like it helps me a whole lot in life as a whole.
Literacy does help me, because through that other people can tell me how they think about things, which can make me wonder about why I think about those things differently, and ultimately decide which of the thoughts I deem better.
I feel this makes me stronger as a person, as I then not only what I think, but also why I think it.
Would no-one ever (be able to) challenge me this way, life would just be plain boring.
From a societal and personal view I don’t see how can literacy cannot easily trump numeracy…
Without literacy we have no means of passing information from person to person or from generation to generation. We’d have no true legal system because people couldn’t read/write contracts, etc…
There are teenagers who can barely read and write when they leave school. They can’t do long division or anything beyond simple multiplication. The latter isn’t going to affect them in their daily lives, but the former is. This is why teaching these kids about the structure of the atom, Hitler’s rise to power and the formation of glacial moraines is completely stupid, while they still can’t read or write.
Well, if you’re strictly speaking with regards to importance in everyday life, literacy is more important - you’ve got to be able to communicate with our fellow chaps. Numeracy, well, we’ve got the computer to take care of that if we need it, and in everyday life, we don’t really need it that much, i.e. a basic knowledge is more than sufficient.
Like C2UK said. Context is important, I would imagine. Unless you are a genius in numeracy could your literacy be ignored at the workplace or if working alone.
My wife was a special needs teacher and taught many kids with learning disabilities. In that case they focused on the essentials - literacy. To live life. How to communicate at the department store or ask for directions.
There is a common ground where literacy and numeracy is interwoven and because that part is so broad that I guess it would yet be considered literacy as opposed to numeracy. For instance, counting basic change at the department store etc… the very basic life skills.
Well, not absolutely. But I teach 16 year-olds who need people to read for them in exams, otherwise they might completely misinterpret what’s on the page (e.g. a word like transmission might become “transition” in their heads). And this is not dyslexia, it’s an inability to read. I’ve also had these say to me “sir, can you read it to me?” because it’ll take them ages to read a simple sentence or they might mis-read it.
Same with writing, even the simplest words are completely misspelt and concepts like grammar, punctuation, etc. are alien.
