12- Numeracy

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 Numeracy



According to the Victoria State Department of Education, Numeracy is the knowledge of mathematical skills. Many people are familiar with numeracy as a required topic in education that covers algebra, geometry, and even higher-level classes such as calculus. However, numeracy covers a multitude of fields that impact us every day. 

Many people are familiar with social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. These apps provide incredibly engaging content every day of "for you" pages, but this personalized content could not be provided without an algorithm. Social media algorithms use a variety of statistics in order to decide what is the most desired content for individuals and users as a whole. Numbers such as subscriber counts, likes, shares, and saves can all impact the amount of people that are shown certain types of content. 


Numeracy is also relied on in politics, especially elections. Statistics are gathered to record how many people vote for each candidate in elections. While technology is extremely beneficial to the process of counting the ballots, dedicated citizens work hard to ensure that all of the votes are counted toward their respective state in the electoral college. Understanding numeracy can help citizens understand how these calculations work. 


Medical professionals also use numeracy in many areas of their field. According to the National Library of Medicine, statistics are regularly used during scientific studies. Whether it be creating new vaccines or calculating the effectiveness of a form of medicine across a population, it is extremely important for these professionals to be well versed in the form of numeracy that they see every day. 

Infographic taken from the New York Times

Regardless of whether you are a student, business owner, or employee, numeracy affects all of us in different ways. In order to become more literate in how statistics can alter important things around us, it is important to become aware of how these types of numbers function. 

This article was written with the help of AI.



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