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by throwawayjava 3252 days ago
> However, if I had to pick one mathematical subject everyone should learn, it wouldn't be algebra, it would be statistics.

This isn't algebra in the "groups and rings" sense, it's algebra in the "use the quadratic equation", "is this a graph of x or x^2 or x^3?", "FOIL" sense. Think middle school or early high school.

It's basically impossible to do any statistics past a bit of hand waving if your students can't identify the difference between a graph of x and a graph of x^2...