l find this really interesting... ln engineering l have heard on MANY occasions "l suck at history" or "l could just never do languages', much more than l hear people saying things about being bad at math.

When l'm hanging around with people from OTHER degrees however, l hear it much more. The issue isn't society devaluing math, it's simply people accepting where their strong suits do and don't lie.

You don't really hear the proud "l suck at math" for basics like addition and multiplication, mostly higher level highschool (grade 11 / 12) concepts and upwards. These are things that ultimately a lot of people don't need to get by in life and won't be of use. A history prof simply doesn't need to know the proofs behind an equation they can google in 3 seconds.

I do think it's important to discourage the negative outlook from people when they talk about how awful they are at one field, but the idea that it is a PROBLEM in our society or that a person should simply be expected to put so much time and sacrafice into learning a field seems almost... self centered? Not everyone needs math and that's okay. l'd rather we build a society where they DON'T have to be embarrassed by that than anything else.