“I’m Glad I was a Math Major”

I attended the Minnesota Supreme Court’s oral argument today in the League of Women Voters vs. Ritchie case. The justices’ questioning of both lawyers was extremely vigorous. As I was leaving, I overheard another spectator comment to his companion: “I’m glad I was a math major.” I didn’t get a chance to ask him what he meant by that. One obvious guess, given the context, is he thinks it saved him from being put in such difficult positions. But of course that wouldn’t square with the fact that some math majors do go on to the law; we’ve had some from our department, and one of Minnesota’s top lawyers of all time, Harry Blackmun, was also a math major, albeit from some other college out east. So, maybe, just maybe, this guy was grateful for the math education that allowed him to follow complex lines of reasoning.