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Comment by sokoloff | Hacker News Reader

> I’ve taught mathematics at community colleges for over 20 years and I’m absolutely convinced that not all people can learn algebra or calculus.

That a well-informed position believes that not (almost) everyone who is attending a college can learn single-variable algebra is fairly depressing.

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Do you believe everyone can learn algebra? What evidence do you have for this belief? Have you taught in the classroom much to students with a wide range of educational backgrounds?

I don’t believe everyone has equal intellectual talent in all areas. My talent for math far exceeds my talent for physics. I’ve tried to learn physics but I just can’t. I have no intuition for it. There is variation amongst our brains and how the connections in our brains formed in childhood. In some people the wiring is such that learning a given topic is not feasible. Such is my belief.

Do I believe that everyone should attend college? I do not. Of the people who should attend college, is it frequent that people can't grok single-variable algebra?

I'm not disputing your superior experience on this topic (hence "well-informed position"); I'm just saying that it's fairly depressing.

In case you don’t know this, community colleges are generally required to accept everyone who applies that has a high school diploma or a GED. We are open enrollment institutions.

I understand now what you meant by fairly depressing. Thank you for the clarification.

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