I usually try doing it in my head first. I use paper if it is available. I use a calculator when I don’t have time, or fail at the first two steps.
I noticed my number skills were deteriorating without proper use, and I found that alarming. I’m still weaker than I used to be, but not as bad as I was.
It’s just important to think for ones self when one can. The brain is a muscle that atrophies without use.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
Maybe you number skills are fading because you waste your time and energy on pointless computations. Maybe they just fade with time…
deur@feddit.nl 2 days ago
Your brain is weirdly unhappy with the concept of other brains doing math. Nice!
The brainpower involved in mental math is just real-time factorization and otherwise general application of the rules of arithmatic. It’s no waste, it’s just a well practiced set of pathways that take annoying math and make it friendly. It takes at most 2 seconds to know if it’s time to use a calculator.