# Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-03-30 In classical grade school, focus is given to reading, writing, and arithmetic. These three disciplines are foundational for subsequent study. Analytics makes use of all three. Previous publications inform analytic projects. Understanding these studies requires reading and reading comprehension. Analytic projects require a final report. Creating the final report involves writing. Analytic projects comprise various mathematical calculations and statistical models that require athematic. Complex applications rest on simple fundamentals. There is a tendency to funnel people into educational tracks focusing on words, numbers, or hands. Some will focus on reading and writing. These people typically go on to pursue a liberal arts education. Some will focus on arithmetic. These people usually go on to pursue a technical degree. Some will focus on using their hands. These people typically go on to pursue vocational/trade studies. There are legitimate reasons to do this. From the individual perspective, much frustration can come from focusing too much attention on areas in which one has little interest or aptitude. From a social perspective, tracking people and focusing their education is much more efficient. In some ways, this approach works great. In other ways, it doesn’t work at all. The system does produce a functional outcome. However, that functionality is limited. Just as analysts use more than arithmetic, so do almost all professions and trades. A person working in the trades often uses measurements and must write out plans and receipts. In addition, advancements are happening all the time. It is advantageous for a person in the trades to keep informed, through continual study, of those advancements. Humans are tracked for social benefit, not personal fulfillment. People are all too willing to progress on the provided path because it requires almost no thought and often allows one to avoid things one doesn’t want to do. Education is one of the only paths of social mobility. It is the one that remains open the longest. One could advance based on physical prowess, but if one doesn’t do so by thirty, there is little chance one will after that. Education, however, remains open for most of one’s life. Break free of your track. Explore all the other areas. Become well-rounded. If you study too much, make something with your hands. If you labor all day, read something. Solidarity emerges through understanding each other. Doing something outside of one’s assigned area is an act of rebellion and the basis for solidarity. #### Related Items [[Reading]] [[Writing]] [[Mathematics]] [[Education]] [[Society]] [[Solidarity]] [[Focus]]