Two and Two Make Four

We have to talk about 2+2. Unfortunately. Most unfortunately. This is because what looks like a simple and profoundly stupid Twitter fight must be understood in the full context in which it is playing out. This context is, in fact, the most important and least reported part of the origin story of the Great 2+2 War of 2020, and few realize that this ridiculous discourse didn't come out of a vacuum. It arose in reaction to something James Lindsay posted on Twitter, as has been reported, but more specifically it is the product of a Washington State Ethnic Studies program director, Shraddha Shirude, jumping into that fray with a request to make 2+2=5 "into a true statement" in order to defend her Ethnic Studies education program in that state (and beyond). This "ethnomathematics" program has deep ties into the academic literature within the critical study of mathematics education and is now currently being implemented in Washington and may spread to California and New York soon, and from there, beyond. It is also part of a deliberate attempt to destabilize our ability to identify and name objective truths so that the activists pushing these agendas cannot be criticized and so they can advance their agendas unimpeded. Join James Lindsay on the New Discourses podcast for a deep, sometimes emotional dive into the real story of the 2+2 discourse.
Source: https://youtu.be/BA1Md__9i9U