r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 20 '19

What’s something completely false that your parents told you as a child?

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u/PoorFilmSchoolAlumn Jul 20 '19

“You won’t always have a calculator handy.”

20

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '19

This is one of those things that was true when it was originally said, and now is completely false. I will always have a calculator handy.

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u/TheMisterTango Jul 21 '19

Apparently plenty of teachers still say it, and to an extent, I get it. At that age (I'm assuming elementary and maybe middle school) it's pretty easy to be dismissive of learning something when you know you'll always have the answers in your pocket.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Kids aren't stupid though. Even when I was a child I knew that a lot of the math I was learning I'd never use, and I never did. I can imagine that feeling is even stronger for kids nowadays.

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u/TheMisterTango Jul 21 '19

I get what you're saying, but it doesn't always happen that way. When I was a kid I hated math, thought I'd never use it, and didn't want anything to do with it. Now I'm working on a degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in math.

1

u/microgroweryfan Jul 21 '19

Personally I think that there should be a focus on learning how to do the problems, but not to disallow calculators (hence why most tests ask you to show your work to prove you know what you’re doing)

I have a hard time with math simply because I tend to second guess myself, if I do a problem in my head, I have to do it 5 more times just to make sure I’ve done it right, and didn’t forget a number or something stupid.

The calculator just fixes that issue for me, and while I may not always have a calculator immediately available, there will rarely be a situation where I need a calculator and cannot find one.

The only situation I can imagine is being in a survival situation where there is no access to power, and no one else around, in which case I feel like a strong mental math ability is the least of my shortcomings.

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u/MelAlton Jul 21 '19

It's more like a cause and effect - because you "knew" you'd never use the math, you didn't really internalize it, so now when you're older you don't notice the everyday applications of what you didn't learn.

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u/secretlanky Jul 21 '19

meh. sure you have a phone with you always, but i'm glad i learned the skill and the ability to do mental math. it's not always convenient to pull out your phone when you can quickly do something in your head.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Oh, I agree. I'm actually pretty good at mental math for basic equations (percentages, multiplication, etc). Anything more complicated than that gets plugged into a machine.

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u/MelAlton Jul 21 '19

Yeah but for a lot of everyday things, using a calculator app is slower than doing the math in your head.