Teaching compulsory ethics rather than maths in schools would transform the nation: Bird Lovegod

“...And statistics underpin every job.”

Except no they don’t. Not at all. It’s just words coming out of his mouth because he’s from the banking sector where data and statistics equals money, if he even wrote those cliched lines himself, which he probably didn’t. They’re just platitudes, sounds without meaning.

The next generation is going to have many serious problems to face, and being able to do something to the data that is everywhere is not one of them. Nor is crunching statistics.

They are going to face the disintegration of the predictable global climate, and they are going to face exploitation and corruption of big business and government, and they are going to face environmental degradation, and the incessant lies of the politicians of every country, and maths will not help them one bit.

Ethics would. Ethics can be taught through every subject, and it should be, as well as being a specialist subject itself.

Ethics can be taught within maths. "A man has a million pounds. A human life can be saved for £5,000, and a Rolex watch can be bought for £100,000. He also wants to save money for the future. What should he do, and what will it cost him?”

Right up to AI programming, and building ethics into it.

It’s ethics we need, not maths. Ethics will keep people out of prison, ethics will reduce poverty, ethics will reduce crime, ethics will enable people to make better decisions, and produce better products, and design better services, and found better companies.

Ethics will make better people. Building ethics into everything is how to build an ethical society. This is so obvious, and I think the reason it is not done is also obvious.

How can you run an unethical Government, whilst teaching every pupil about ethics? How can you teach the children to be truthful and fair and honest, then run a Government riddled with sleaze, backhanders, and multi-million pound deals given to MP’s pub landlords and husbands of members of the House of Lords?

How can you teach ethics, then give tax breaks to ingratiate banks and bankers? How can you teach ethics, without using real world examples in real time.

Teaching ethics enables them to see the unethical, the deceitful, the hypocritical, the obvious corruption and double standards, the dishonesty and blatant abuse of power. Teach them ethics, and they’ll see how the rich fund the Government for the favours they receive. They’ll see the double standards. They’ll see.

Teach them ethics and the change would be transformative. Government would be seen for what it is. Unethical but almost never accountable. Teach them ethics and they will see the state of the world. And when they see it , they will rebel against it, and they will demand change, and create it, and be it.

Better to keep their eyes closed. Teach them maths.

Bird Lovegod is MD of EthicalMuch