Many of our fellow citizens have no savings for the future, no investments; rather, their plan for old age is to win the lottery. While I agree with the adage, “No dreamer too small, no dream too big,” there are limits.
Numerate people do not make the mistake of believing in the lottery any more than they believe that one day in Wal-Mart a movie producer will stop and point at them, “Him, I want him to star in my next movie.” This is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute with the intention of landing on something soft.
The New Mexico Lottery, under the guise of raising money for education, preys on math challenged people. Their advertisements suggest riches will shower upon you if you buy a lottery ticket. Unlikely.
Currently there is concern in New Mexico that not enough fools, er, dreamers are buying lottery tickets and there is not enough money for college students. This is entirely the fault of the institutions of higher learning in New Mexico who doubled and tripled their tuition so that the money from the lottery is not enough.
But I have a solution. The proceeds from this tax on people who don’t understand math at this point goes to college general education, in fact, anything the student wants to study. Remember, the tobacco settlement funds anti-smoking campaigns. You want to know what I think? The New Mexico Lottery should go directly and entirely to math education in New Mexico.
Every dollar should be channeled to making New Mexico students the envy of the nation when it comes to math. If people can buy lottery tickets with the expectation of winning, they are showing their lack of math education. We should take their obvious lack of numerate ability and use it constructively so future generations in New Mexico do not end up in the same condition.
There is a break point in lack of math sense that does not necessarily mean we should not buy one lottery ticket per drawing. After all, you have to have one ticket to win. I think the problem applies to people who lack numerate ability such that they think buying two lottery tickets significantly improves their chances of winning.
The operational concept most lacking in people who are not numerate appears to be the ability to think in scale, to judge two things as they relate to each other in mathematical terms. People can buy a lottery ticket once in a while if the mood strikes them, but understanding the scale precludes any real expectations of winning.
Also thinking mathematically, I was flying out of Chicago on a commercial airliner. We were on the ground in a long line waiting to take off. The man next to me confessed he was petrified of flying but had to make this trip. I pointed out the window. “There are over a hundred jets ready to take off right here.”
“Gosh,” he said, “I hope we don’t run into any of them.” I continued, “The scale of airline dysfunction (I didn’t want to use the word ‘crash’) is about one plane in two million flights. Not bad odds.”
The guy next to me brightened slightly. He hadn’t thought of it that way. “But what if this airplane is THE one in two million?” he questioned. “Well,” I said, “Then whoever has a window seat gets a good look at it coming.”
That sent him back into gloom. I forgot to ask if he had a lottery ticket, but I bet he did. He just needs some good math education.
Dr. Michael Swickard hosts the syndicated radio talk show News New Mexico six to nine a.m. Monday - Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. Email: michael@swickard.com
