I'm so glad I can do sums without a calculator

[Grrr]

Well I am glad too. All off my school years I've had the option of using a calculator; though for the most part I never did; they are too slow.

Anyway, now I am at uni I am not allowed to use a calculator for my exams; and have an incredible advantage because of it .



If your child can't visualise counting apples or sheep now, teach him quick, or he will have the most incredible problems understanding the concepts of algebra.

[Alexander's Horse]

You can't trust calculators - I always check. I just did some sums and the little calculator I was using just dropped the numbers after the decimal point when it ran out of screen - no rounding up or down!!!!

[Sava]

what kind of ghetto ass calculator were you using AH?

[Kuciwalker]

that's what 83's are for - they store floating-point numbers in 18 bytes... a whole lotta accuracy (even if you don't see it past).

Plus, it's very easy to do multiple sequential computations, as it is a graphing calculator.

[St Leo]

I'm really glad I was educated before calculators and computers came on the scene. I can do sums in my head or with a pencil - add, subtract, multiply, divide. I know all the basic tricks for mental arithmetic like rounding to 10 and dropping zeros. I knew my times tables off by heart up to 12 - but I'm a little hazy on that now. And I was never very interested in maths but thanks to all those teachers who gave me a good grounding in the basics. I use them every day.

Bah. If you give me enough time, I can multiply arbitrarirly-long integers in my head.:P

I always know how much change I should get back when I buy something. Sometimes I give cashier extra coins so I get notes back - some of them look at you blankly when you say "I'll give you $10.20 and you give me 5 dollars back".

/me punches AH

I hate people like you.:P I work part-time in a fast-food place right now and as a result I can calculate change for a $5, $10, $20, or whatever instantly. You have a couple minutes to mull over the calculation in your head. I have to do it very fast because there are ten other people in line. Grrr.

Of course, my coworkers are innumerate. I had a five minute argument the other night trying to prove that "18 - 30%" equalled "18*.7". They couldn't even do it with a calculator. Idiots.

[Skanky Burns]

I am good with math, but sometimes use a calculator to save time.

[Dis]

I'm a wiz at math. I rarely use a calculator.

But I fail to see the importance of math in the every day world. Basic math sure, but beyond that...

[Nubclear]

In my childs school, calculators are banned....

[Lorizael]

I use a calculator if I need to, but for the most part I'm better than the vast majority of people I know. Some things just instantly appear in my head, without me even having to think about the question. Other times I use a wide variety of tricks of my own or my father's devising.

The only people I know that can do mental math faster than me are my brothers. But, well, my oldest brother is trying to become a math teacher, so you gotta expect that sorta thing.

[Urban Ranger]

This is not math, people. This is basic arithematic operations.

[Az]

Indeed.

I can do add/sub/div/mul with a paper and pencil ( duh! I was in primary school, amazing isn't it? ), but admittedly, I almost never do so, with a calculator lying around.

[Alexander's Horse]

a lot of people can't do it - that's the point.

[Az]

really?

[Alexander's Horse]

yeah - I don't think there's anything clever about being able to do primary school level sums any more than you do - except fo the fact that a surprising number of people cannot do them.

[Az]

That's very disturbing, AH. We're notorious for the awfulness of our primary school, and even here cashiers always ask for spare coins, so they can give change in round numbers.

But since all that people need is practice, I don't think there is something to worry about.