[RA_Fisher]

That reminds me of when teachers would say: what if you're without a calculator? And yet we all have smartphones in our pockets today with calculators.

[palmotea]

> That reminds me of when teachers would say: what if you're without a calculator? And yet we all have smartphones in our pockets today with calculators.

Your teachers had the right goal, but a bad argument. Learning arithmetic isn't just about being able to do a calculation. It's about getting your brain comfortable with math. If you always have to pull out a goddamn calculator, you'll be extremely limited.

Trust me, elementary-age me was dumb to not listen to those teachers and to become so calculator-dependent.

[RA_Fisher]

I think learning arithmetic is a good idea, but it’s only a part of computation. I don’t think we should get too hung up on a particular method of computation (bc there’s so many ways).

[fatherwavelet]

Certain subjects we treat as if one has to learn woodworking before taking violin lessons.

We just really underestimate sentimentality in our society because it doesn't fit our self conception.

[RA_Fisher]

Very fair. I think even more we underestimate our own sentimentalities. eg- the teacher that believes adding or multiplication has to be done a particular way (like the standard algorithm vs. partial products).

[davidmurdoch]

Having a deep intuition about what the calculator is doing is the skill we were actually being taught. Teachers don't know always understand why things are being taught.

[1718627440]

> Teachers don't know always understand why things are being taught.

Yes, but I don't think that is the actual bottleneck, even when they do, most children probably don't care about abstract goals, but rather about immediate skills in their everyday life, or just the statement, that they will need it.

[RA_Fisher]

I’m a fan of using a variety of methods to teach, no issue with that. My issue is with teachers that don’t admit how the world is changing. Dinosaurs.

[1718627440]

And yet calculating your shopping expenses to prevent getting screwed by buggy vending machines, or quickly making rough estimations at your work, is as useful as ever. Tell me how you can learn calculus and group theory, when you skipped primary school math.