IS MATH DIFFICULT? HOW NUMBERS CAN DECEIVE US

Abstract

This article arose from the presentation of the books “Numbers (don't) lie” and “How to lie with statistics", which reveal how arguments can be supported by mathematical fallacies, especially when numbers are not given the necessary attention. The fallacies, commented by the authors Charles Seife and Darrell Huff, and the ways to unmask them, and the fear of mathematics, comes from antiquity. Seife is particularly concerned with how numbers can affect democracy in the United States, but the fallacies with numbers appear in the economy, in advertising, in opinion polls, and even in justice. Huff, curiously exposed how statistics have been used by politicians, newspapers, companies and people who have already fallen into fallacious information, for the manipulation of statistical data in order to create a misunderstanding about a certain subject, product or social scenario. Subsequently, an opinion poll was carried out with the students who participated in the exhibition, students of the Postgraduate Program in Language Studies at CEFET- MG, and the result was surprising: 75% of respondents believe they have fallen into some mathematical fallacy, demonstrating that the difficulty in mathematics is not just in basic education.