Quote:
Originally Posted by vagarach /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I double majored in actuarial science and statistics for my bachelors degree. Lots of highly complex mathematics and statistics for 4 years.
My parents and other people of their generation are much more agile when it comes to doing difficult mental arithmetic, and yeah, I'm dependent on my calculator. The mental agility I have learned is of a completely different nature, I simply don't need to be able to find 2345 + 8756 in 5 seconds flat.
This times table thing is from 20 years ago and bemoaning the general state of education is timeless.
|
11,101 in 2 seconds flat. Ok, maybe 3 seconds.
I see it as 2 + 8 = 10 plus 3 digits to the right, or 10,000, then 3 + 7 = 1000 more since it's 10 in the hundreds digit, so 11,000, then 45 +56 = 101. I can't explain why, but when I see numbers like that, I work from left to right (counter to what I was trained to do in grade school). But more than that, I look for and instantly see the easy math groupings, like things that add to 10.
The weird thing is that it's just the opposite if I were adding a column of numbers on a sheet of paper. In that case, I would go right back to my grade school training and approach it rather methodically going from right to left (as you're supposed to), "carrying" the extra digits over to the next column. Or, if subtracting, "borrowing" from the next column.
So I think that what we're seeing today is only partly do to the advent of the calculator and the resultant changes that have evolved over time in terms of instructional methods. Yes, to a great degree, younger people who weren't taught how to add a column of numbers, or to subtract using the "borrowing" method, or to memorize the times tables, will obviously rely more on calculators.
But I think it's more than that. I don't think as many people today (even older people who've grown to rely on calculators) even "think" in mathematical ways or "see" simple mathematical relationships like they did when they were younger, because those old habits have long since fallen out of practice. I have an excuse: I'm an accountant! So I can't really help myself.