---
author: ''
category: ''
date: 2012/06/27 15:35
description: ''
link: ''
priority: ''
slug: this-is-not-math
tags: ''
title: This is Not Math
type: text
updated: 2012/06/27 15:35
url_type: ''
---
My niece goes to school. She has homework. Every now and then, her mom and greatmom
will not be able to help her. I am sort of the math helper of last resort in the
family. So, the other day I got this question::

   What is the next number on this series:

   2, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19

I just could not come up with an answer at the time. I have been told
the answer is ``200``. Why? Because it's a list of numbers starting with "d".

Oh, you may say two doesn't start with "d" but hey, this was in spanish, so it
does. The problem is, this is just not mathematics, at all.

It's about a completely incidental feature of the representation of a number in
spanish, which is a completely unmathematical thing. Makes me wonder why
they are making students think about this. Anyone knows?