VDARE - Derbyshire On Math: Debunking Diversity “Theorems”, Fixing NY Schools - "Academic mathematicians are, in my experience, as susceptible to the siren call of Cultural Marxism as the rest of the academy. You don’t find many political dissidents in math departments. At the very highest levels of mathematical ability there is, in fact, a tradition of political stupidity." (Maybe Professor Abigail Thompson should be awarded the Fields Medal for Mathematical Integrity.)

Derbyshire On Math: Debunking Diversity “Theorems”, Fixing NY Schools


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Here’s the thing: I have an understanding with VDARE.com’s editors that from time to time I need to write about math. This week is one of those times.

What follows is therefore math-oriented. It’s on-topic, though; at any rate, most of it is, most of the time.

The current issue of Notices of the American Mathematical Societyincludes a most interesting article titled “Does Diversity Trump Ability?”

The article examines a 2004 claim by economists Lu Hong and Scott Page to have proved a rigorous mathematical theorem to the effect that, to quote the title of their original paper, “Groups of diverse problem solvers can out-perform groups of high-ability problem solvers.” [In Professor’s Model, Diversity = Productivity, By Claudia Dreifus, NYT, January 8, 2008]

Referring to that paper, the Notices writer tells us:

Its publication in 2004 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has given it credibility, and it is widely cited. Its conclusions are presented as mathematical truth. Referring to this work in his 2007 book The Difference (p. 165), Page says, “… the veracity of the diversity trumps ability claim is not a matter of dispute. It’s true, just as 1 + 1 = 2 is true.”

Under careful scrutiny, however, the paper is seen to have essential and irreparable errors.

[by Abigail Thompson, Notices of the AMS, October 2014.] ...