On Mathematical Anxiety (and the Courage to Ask Anyway)

Watching a group of Year 7s sit through a lecture on gravity and black holes earlier this week as part of an outreach event made me feel almost envious. They weren’t afraid to give an answer and get it wrong, or even afraid to ask a question that might sound silly. They just blurted things out, no judgement attached. I couldn’t help but wonder, when did we lose that?