this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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I mean, to some degree ... yes. Day to day, I do very little math ... if it's trivial I do it in my head if it's more than a few digits, I just ask a calculator... because I always have one and it's not going to forget to carry the 1 or w/e.
Long division, I've totally forgotten.
Basic algebra, yeah I still use that.
Trig? Nah. Calc? Nah.
You're not going to college level math to do basic calculations. You're going to college level math because you need to learn how to actually fully understand and apply mathematical concepts.
I hear this all the time that there's some profound mathematical concept that I had to go to college to learn ... what exactly is that lesson? What math lessons have changed your life specifically?
Also the comment I was replying to was about doing math. Mathematical "concepts" aren't exactly "doing math."
Calculus was a game changer. Combined with physics it completely changed my view of the world.
In what way?
It's hard to explain. Calculus was integral (hah!) to understanding a lot of physics and allowed me to understand better how we know about our world.
For example - just being able to better understand the equations of motion was eye-opening. There were velocity and acceleration equations we'd learned previously but now I understood how we knew them. I could also now derive a function for change in acceleration (aka jerk)!
Trig had a similar impact though that is taught at a high school level not college. The two combined are quite useful for programming things with motion.
Honestly, if you have to ask, you'll never know. You're just not emotionally invested in the real world and if you were, you'd see the value of high-level math everywhere. But you don't, and that's entirely your fault. No one is going to inspire you for you.
So you're still doing math then. And using a calculator as a tool to assist you.
Just like we'll be doing with AI.