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“Misinformed: How CS and Math Are (Mis)used to Promote Political Agendas”

Mathematics and computer science are powerful disciplines with myriad practical applications, but their central concepts can be confusing for lay people to understand. This makes it possible for ideologues to abuse those concepts in the service of political agendas. We will consider several examples of the importance of mathematical and computational literacy in considering a variety of scientific questions. We will pay particular attention to the abuse of math and CS in the literature of creationism and intelligent design.

Speaker

Jason Rosenhouse is a professor of mathematics at James Madison University. He is the author or editor of nine books on subjects such as recreational mathematics and evolution and creationism. From 2020 to 2025, he was the editor of Mathematics Magazine, published by the Mathematical Association of America. When not doing math, he enjoys chess, cooking and reading locked room mysteries.