Arch Mistake

A Google search brought me to this page, an essay titled, "The Mistake at the Base of the Gateway Arch."

The summary of the article is this: the author's math geek friend was standing in line to go to the top of the Gateway Arch when he noticed an error on a plaque near the entrance. The plaque featured mathematical equations -- equations that an average person definitely would not understand -- that explained the engineering behind the Gateway Arch.

Okay, fine. Somebody in the sixties screwed up when having this plaque made. And nobody caught the mistake, because the people who work at the information desk beneath the Gateway Arch are, most likely, park rangers -- NOT mathematicians.

My favorite part of the essay is this:

When you enter the North Tram of the Gateway Arch, you see an exhibit on the science and engineering behind the Gateway Arch. In that exhibit, there's a white plaque which shows the mathematical equations used in designing the arch.

One of those equations is mistaken.

That's it. That's the mistake.

When Matt discovered this mistake, he found a staff person who had forms for filing complaints and mentioned this mistake. The staff person then responded, "I was never any good at algebra."

Fascinating. And I suppose that if someone discovered a misspelled word at the same plaque this same staff person would likewise plead innocent with "I was never any good at English."

This exchange cracks me up, because in my head, I'm imagining a completely disinterested Park Ranger sitting there thinking, "whatever nerd, just fill out the damn form already."

The essay goes on to complain about how many people are intimidated by math, and how, in the author's mind, this is wrong because (at least this is how I read the article) math isn't intimidating -- and then he showed us how unintimidating it is by including several complex equations.

My opinion is this: some people are better at logic-based things, like math and science. Some people are more creative, and they tend to be writers and artists. However, being a guy who spends 40+ hours each week immersed in academia, I can attest that in many cases, the higher someone's IQ, the less chance there is for them to be able to interact with average people.

It is clear that the person who found this error is highly intelligent. However, the person's reaction to it -- the inability and unwillingness to grasp the concept that not everyone understands mathematical equations, and the subsequent disdain for the perceived anti-math attitude (which was probably an attempt at diplomacy) -- only proves my theory that IQ and social prowess have a directly inverse relationship.

If they didn't, would Larry the Cable Guy be a millionaire? Would NASCAR exist?

That is all.