Anti-Math ↔ Pro-MAGA? A Social Experiment

Here’s a thing that a high school friend shared on Facebook. The thing itself is engaging. But what I found interesting was the comments. By “interesting,” I mean “demoralizing.”

The post itself is a reminder that multiplication is commutative — 5 times 7 is the same as 7 times 5. And (duh) we can apply that principle to percentages when the occasion arises. And (true to this post’s promise) I felt a little stupid that this information hit me like a minor epiphany when it was phrased in this way.

For the record: I was an “I don’t do math 👎” resistor all through my formal education. I dodged math in high school. I took the most rudimentary minimum class I could — and I cheated. My math education peaked at algebra in college when my liberal arts degree forced me to take three math credits, or no diploma. I finally decided to memorize the multiplication tables in my 50s.

The Facebook Reactions

Face it: If you are a Boomer or Gen X on Facebook, you already know that it’s a digital purgatory where you spend eternity with your high school classmates. I scanned the comments. And, because I sort of know these people “in the Facebook way,” I noticed a pattern. I’ll help you see the pattern too.

How we respond to a harmless math factoid can hint at how we handle uncertainty, evidence, or disagreement.

In a completely apolitical Facebook post, the people who responded with “Don’t make me think” were Trump supporters. Of the people who reacted with delight — the folks who showed the slightest bit of intellectual curiosity — none of them were Trump supporters.

That surprised me less than it confirmed a depressing truth: attitudes toward knowledge and complexity often reflect deeper tendencies that show up as political alignment.

Yes, yes, yes… It’s anecdotal and tiny — a sample size of six people. “Not statistically valid” and all the other things someone who values evidence would say.

Your Turn: Post the Screenshot

Is this an accidental political litmus test? Let’s do a social experiment. Post the same screenshot without comment, let the reactions come, look for patterns. Let me know.

It’s not about shaming anyone. If shame worked, we’d be on a different political trajectory. For most people, politics are threaded through habits of mind. I’m curious if you see the same alignments I did. If nothing else, you’ll give your friends a tiny math trick to feel pleasantly clever about.