Re:Marvin Minsky: What makes mathematics hard to learn? (2008)
by TheOtherHobbes on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @08:10PM
(#10977536)
Some academic mathematicians are terrible at arithmetic.
There's no correlation at all between being able to add up a grocery bill in your head and being good at abstraction.
My accountant is very good at mental arithmetic. I don't expect him to win the Fields Medal any time soon.
This is more relevant than it should be. Too many people leave school thinking math is mental arithmetic, and have no idea what symbolic manipulation is, or why it's useful.
There's no correlation at all between being able to add up a grocery bill in your head and being good at abstraction.
My accountant is very good at mental arithmetic. I don't expect him to win the Fields Medal any time soon.
This is more relevant than it should be. Too many people leave school thinking math is mental arithmetic, and have no idea what symbolic manipulation is, or why it's useful.