We Love Louis C.K.'s Common Core Twitter Rant

We know this to be true: Louis C.K. is — and this is no hyperbole — a genius. The Louie creator and star eviscerates the absurdities of the world with a refreshing sense of honesty and frankness that, as soon as it leaves his brilliant brain, feels instantly universe and true. All of that was evidenced in his recent Twitter rant against the Common Core and how it destroys any and all potential enjoyment of learning, particularly with already-tedious subjects like math. Now, we're far from the first person to admit that math is Totally The Worst (would you expect anything less from a writer, though?), but C.K.'s daughters somehow love the subject. At least until the Common Core came around and ruined everything.

The Common Core, a means-well but seemingly misguided answer to keeping American students in competition with their international peers on the education front, has drawn a lot of criticism from all sides of the aisle — left and right -wingers alike — as it stamps one-size-fits-all requirements and teaching styles on schools, children, and teachers. It may be 10 years (oh god I'm a crone) since we last sat in a high school math classroom, but by the looks of these questions we're sure as shit glad it was that long ago. The supreme vagueness of these "standardized" questions can't possibly work for anyone — let alone everyone. Especially when you take into consideration that, oh wait, every mind and learning style is different.

Now, tears and math go together like cookies and milk to this author, but we recognize that's not always the case. Judging by the content in his tweets, the whole thing looks ridiculous and confusing just for the sake of it. Math is one of the trickier subjects a person can face in school — and not being good at it can often lead to insecurities for that person. (Cough.) Perhaps we were particularly scarred by our high school mathematical education (like we said, we're really, really bad at math), but none of this really seems all that effective when it comes to, you know, actually teaching concepts in a way children can not only understand, but internalize.

Looks like someone focused so hard on getting the numbers in there, they forgot to make it an actually comprehensible prompt.

Why pictograph, indeed. WHY, WHY, WHY?!