lingua

Some VCs liked it and invested. Others weren't willing to take the risk. Others acted deplorably.

When a Naya pitch meeting turned into a porn-fest, what did the Naya reps do? Did they try to laugh it off and humour the offenders because they wanted the money? Or did they realize that they didn't want to be in business with these people, shutdown and walk out?

If they didn't walk away, they are culpable. They clearly communicated that bad behaviour is tolerable depending on the money.

This reminds me of a topic that comes up a lot at my house: late homework.

What should teachers do about late homework? Should you get a zero if you don't turn it in? Should you get 50% off for anything late? Should there be a limit on how late it can be?

If a student turns in 10 missing assignment in the last week of the semester, then gets a 96% on the semester exam, what grade do they deserve?

What is the point of a grade anyway? There are so many different meanings built into a grade. A grade can teach discipline and responsibility. It can teach respect. It can teach cheating. It can teach to do just enough to scrape by. It can teach that the important thing is to be higher than others. It can represent competency in a subject. It can represent value to the income of the football team.

Education is about so many things that it's hard to have a useful blanket discussion.

The correct approach depends upon the intention. If you are trying to improve people's understanding, you take one approach. If you are trying to vet competency for potential employers, you take a different approach. If you are trying to build a minimum base on which society can be anchored, you take yet another approach.

What you are describing is not unique to math. It is required in any discipline. In fact, it is required in any social interaction. People are constant;y building common vocabularies. The words and phrases you use at work are different than the ones you use at the neighborhood block party. Even among different friends you have different vocabularies. "Elbow" means something different to plumbers, fishers, basketball coaches, and musicians. "Panama" means something different to a very small subset of your friends. Humans are constantly building common vocabulary, and everyone maintains several different vocabularies simultaneously.

To complain about the effort to build a common vocabulary is to complain about the effort of participating in any society.