But the proverb does appear true to some degree, and I propose that we should be very disturbed by this fact. We should not sigh, and shake our heads sadly. Rather we should sit bolt upright in alarm. Why? Well, suppose that an apprentice shepherd is laboriously trained to count sheep, as they pass in and out of a fold. Thus the shepherd knows when all the sheep have left, and when all the sheep have returned. Then you give the shepherd a few apples, and say: “How many apples?” But the shepherd stares at you blankly, because they weren’t trained to count apples—just sheep. You would probably suspect that the shepherd didn’t understand counting very well.
A very, very belated note: there’s an interesting scene in the first season of The Wire where one protagonists is running his kid brother through some math homework—some problem with people boarding and getting off buses. The kid brother is completely lost. Then the protagonist restates the problem in terms of the drugs being sold outside, and the kid brother gets the answer perfectly.
A very, very belated note: there’s an interesting scene in the first season of The Wire where one protagonists is running his kid brother through some math homework—some problem with people boarding and getting off buses. The kid brother is completely lost. Then the protagonist restates the problem in terms of the drugs being sold outside, and the kid brother gets the answer perfectly.