I’m just testing that the calculator works. It’s part of the scientific process, sweaty
Better safe than sorry
Submitted 3 weeks ago by Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.com to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/1de10158-1fd4-432e-9c50-b31e3c39477d.webp
Comments
jeansburger@piefed.world 3 weeks ago
Okay look, some of the math I do on a daily basis is like 5 levels above basic addition (it looks like I've written a whole ass sentences of gibberish) but like what if they changed it? I'd rather be sure that 2+2 still equals 4 than be wrong and the thing I'm working on ends up making expensive sounds.
There's also just removing the cognitive load of having to process this information. You're allowed to look up the answer (that's what a calculator and the slide rule do).
Using the tools you have to speed up your work doesn't make you a worse engineer than those in the past. You're building off their work so you don't have to constantly literally reinvent the wheel.
Aqarius@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yup. If I’m not ballparking, all math goes through a calculator. It’s already there, and I’m already using it. “Trust, but verify”.
hansolo@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
The issue is that the floor on confidence in knowledge is now basically nothing.
Why is it that 8th graders in 1990 could do solid algebra and polynomials on paper and not need help? Nothing about the math has changed.
Slide rules do not do basic math, that’s a poor comparison. People that did higher math on slide rules only used it for part of the problem dealing with logarithms, and that was a shorthand for larger approximation tables in books. That’s necessary help. Solving for 2+2 is not. That’s for little children that count on their fingers. If you’re not in the “WTF?” camp, you’re part of the problem.
stray@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
Difficulty performing mental arithmetic doesn’t necessarily correlate with poor overall intelligence or inability to grasp higher math concepts. In a world where we all have calculators in our pockets, there is no reason to bar someone from studies or a career involving higher mathematics simply for being neurologically atypical, nor to shame them for whichever coping strategies allow them to perform.
FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Slide rules do not do basic math, that’s a poor comparison
He doesn’t know that. None of the idiots advocating regressive imbecilism actually understands what they are talking about.
derek@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
I’m not confident you’re participating in good faith here but, on the off-chance you are; I’m not sure I take your point.
Can you substantiate your initial claim? “The floor on confidence in knowledge is now basically nothing” seems too broad a statement to meaningfully defend.
Even if we assume you’re talking about US 8th graders you’ll have to be more specific. The US has seen degraded academic performance across the board but the degree varies by State (and often again by County).
What’s “necessary help” is up for debate as well. There’s a hint of something I can agree with here though. I do agree that, for certain vocations, it’s important for individuals to have firm graps on the fundamentals. Programmers ought to be able to code without IDEs and Mathematicians work problems without calculators. I don’t agree that the common use of good tools by those professionals results in the brain-drain bogeyman you seem to be shadow boxing.
What am I meant to be alarmed about, exactly?
Zerush@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
You can’t calculate 2+2 with a slide rule
johncritzman@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Moves C index to 2 on the D scale Moves indicating line to 2 on the C scale Reads 4 on the D scale
Good thing 2+2 and 2*2 yield the same answer. Would have to bust out the addiator otherwise
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Maybe you can’t
brown567@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
You could probably do log_10(10²×10²) instead?
arox@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 3 weeks ago
I am guessing you are an engineer of some sort.
FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Engineer of wide surfaces - also known as cleaner.
redchert@lemmygrad.ml 2 weeks ago
Technology is invented for the sake of usage. It’s cultural calvinism that postulates that the „harder“ work is the „better“ work.
Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
As long as they don’t ask ChatGPT.
user224@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
brown567@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Am engineer, made my own slide rule for fun
Still check basic arithmetic because I’d rather overestimate my own incompetence than underestimate it
Fedizen@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
And a team of 20 black girls who solved all their math problems
xploit@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Plotwist; It’s an AI calculator and the answer is 80085
Soup@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
“Is the answer 3?”
Ai taking a drag from a cigarette: “Sure thing kid, why not?”
“Wow, so smart.”
I genuinely do hate AI, this is joke about it constantly validating everything asked of it instead of actually being useful.
SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
They say we can stand on the shoulders of giants, but first we gotta climb a friggin giant
IronBird@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
just cut it’s achilles tendon and it’ll lower itself for you
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
that’s why the true progress is made if we simplify our mental models so they’re easier to explain … because then the next generation can get running faster and therefore get farther.
FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
… And now read idiots who advocate that it is OK to not understand analogue clock:
hansolo@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
I saw that. It’s fucking breathtaking, the apologists for stupidity.
If I go start an account on a .ml instance and claim letters and numbers are colonial, patriarchal constructs and should be eliminated, I’ll be the most popular poster until I accidentally make everyone illiterate out of spite.
FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah, and the level of upvotes these idiots have is truly shocking.
Lemmy is no way better than Reddit and the Idiocracy is a documentary.
I feel like fucking vomiting just thinking about it.
henfredemars@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
Wasn’t that disproven by Snopes?
FelixCress@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Idiots on Lemmy were disproved? News to me.
marcos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If those clock actually didn’t exist anymore, than it really would be no point in knowing how to read them.
And there’s close to no point nowadays. If I was making some school curriculum, I would probably keep them because they are useful for teaching fractions. But I would look for an alternative.
MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
guess the new “go touch grass” is going to be “go read a dial clock”
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They’re far less common than digital clocks now. Same with the bullshit cursive.
LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I genuinely don’t know where I would even find an analog clock anymore outside of school and I haven’t been in school for more than 20 years. genuinely do not remember the last time I’ve seen an analog clock, and I work in a lot of public government offices who are usually pretty far behind the times but even they use digital clocks. to the point that I just went to look had a picture of one and it actually takes me a second to read now.
I don’t understand why people are so obsessed on holding on to knowledge that is not relevant to your daily life, digital clocks are objectively better at the task of telling the time and it’s what exists everywhere in life now I don’t really fault anyone for not being able to read an analog.
saturn57@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is incorrect. The Apollo program led to massive development of computer technology because it would not be possible without it. They created the first real time computers and were the world’s largest buyer of integrated circuits at the time. Computers were part of every single part of the mission and were critical to it’s success. See One Giant Leap : The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon for further information.
denial@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
If they are taking an exam, they are not yet an engineer.
Also if you need to check simple math during your exam, you will fail super hard because you will run out of time with almost non of the work completed.
Unknown_0671@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
me when i have no perspective
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
If you’re walking under something I’ve designed, would you prefer I save time?
pigup@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Engineer in 1969 : “nwords” Engineer today: “no that’s my dad, I just graduated and started working here too. Yea my grandfather too.” “I grew up pretty conservative”
Siegfried@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Till, only USA has engineers
pigup@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yes they drive trains
muntedcrocodile@hilariouschaos.com 3 weeks ago
Engineering mathematics is easy. Follow simple rules, follow simple formula, do basic algebra, don’t screw up ur units. The issue is when numbers start to get involved. I’ve made more mistakes simply doing the number wrong than anything else. This is why using code to solve all ur problems is goated
one_step_behind@quokk.au 3 weeks ago
Sure, if we ignore the fact that those engineers had all of their work checked by people we called calculators.
Revan343@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
That sounds like women’s work, of course we’re going to ignore it