A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]

This is an article that everyone interested in education - mathematics and otherwise - should read, takes notes in, and then think critically about what they do, and what they're trying to accomplish. It has its weak points, in places it might be wrong, but it should be read in full, with care.

To the submitter: In case you're confused as to why your submission isn't getting more attention, it has been submitted before. Here are the summarised results from a search query:

    A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]
    http://www.scribd.com/vacuum?url=http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135584
    2008-03-12 Comments: 0, points: 4

    A Mathematician’s Lament
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=870885
    2009-10-09 Comments: 1, points: 6

    A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1552379
    2010-07-27 Comments: 0, points: 4

    A Mathematician's Lament
    http://maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1782137
    2010-10-12 Comments: 0, points: 4

    A Mathematician’s Lament
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1913937
    2010-11-17 Comments: 0, points: 3

    A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2735660
    2011-07-06 Comments: 0, points: 4

    A Mathematician's Lament [pdf] [2002]
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2791181
    2011-07-21 Comments: 0, points: 3

    A Mathematician's Lament
    https://gist.github.com/aa3f64a7df38cfd06848
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2894009
    2011-08-17 Comments: 0, points: 1

    A Mathematician's Lament
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3969158
    2012-05-14 Comments: 0, points: 7

    A Mathematician's Lament: one of the best critiques of K-12 math education
    http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5968655
    2013-07-01 Comments: 0, points: 2

    A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart
    http://worrydream.com/refs/Lockhart-MathematiciansLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6740375
    2013-11-15 Comments: 0, points: 2

    A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
    http://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6994939
    2014-01-01 Comments: 1, points: 3

    A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
    https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8711638
    2014-12-07 Comments: 0, points: 4

    A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf] 
    https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8845507
    2015-01-06 Comments: 89, points: 167

    A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]
    https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11925532
    2016-06-17 Comments: 0, points: 4

    A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]
    https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13515485
    2017-01-29 Comments: 0, points: 3

    A Mathematician's Lament – Paul Lockhart [pdf]
    http://thewe.net/math/lockhart.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13717356
    2017-02-23 Comments: 0, points: 2

    A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf]
    https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13856013
    2017-03-13 Comments: 0, points: 2

    A Mathematician's Lament:Paul Lockhart presents a scathing critique of K-12 math [pdf]
    https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13859396
    2017-03-13 Comments: 0, points: 2