OT: Typically do you carry cash?

[RU4Real]

Okay - little trivia for you.

Who / what was the first organization to collect information about purchasing habits on a "big data" scale?

 

[RUJohnny99]

Okay - little trivia for you.

Who / what was the first organization to collect information about purchasing habits on a "big data" scale?

The Romans.

"Where the F did all these loaves & fishes come from?!?"

 

[cooldude33]

I haven't touched a piece of actual American currency in probably 5 years now.

 

[cooldude33]

When did Jim Delany get such a pointy nose and ears.

 

[theRU]

i wanted to get in on this calculator vs no calculator debate. I'm torn myself. How important is it to be able to multiply in your head when you have a tool readily available. As long as you know the concepts of multiplication, isnt that the most important thing? When is it time to let go of "primitive" skills. Should we still learn how to ride horses in case our cars break down? We've drifted from everyone know how to farm and grow food, to few.

I don't know what the right answer is... but i find these kinds of topics fascinating.

 

[oldman87]

Your brain is just like every other muscle in your body that needs to be exercised or risk atrophy, why walk or run when we have cars? These "primitive" mathematical skills are also very important during early development of the brain, it forms the basis for logical thinking that applies to everything else in life, something you won't get by punching numbers into a calculator.

 

[rutger80]

Pretty interesting responses, but I guess I'm a combination. I carry a wallet, with cash, usually $50-$60, and use my credit cards almost all of the time. I use checks, too! (Not in stores, though) But, I'm over 50, so there ya go.

 

[theRU]

Your brain is just like every other muscle in your body that needs to be exercised or risk atrophy, why walk or run when we have cars? These "primitive" mathematical skills are also very important during early development of the brain, it forms the basis for logical thinking that applies to everything else in life, something you won't get by punching numbers into a calculator.

But does memorizing the multiplication table actually make you better at math? Or are you simply dedicating information to memory? I'm not sure what the answer is.

 

[oldman87]

But does memorizing the multiplication table actually make you better at math? Or are you simply dedicating information to memory? I'm not sure what the answer is.

It certainly doesn't hurt. It takes few days, weeks tops to memorize the table, it won't make a dent in your memory capacity LOL, we only use a small percentage of our brain capacity through out our life time.

 

[Phi_1055]

i wanted to get in on this calculator vs no calculator debate. I'm torn myself. How important is it to be able to multiply in your head when you have a tool readily available. As long as you know the concepts of multiplication, isnt that the most important thing? When is it time to let go of "primitive" skills. Should we still learn how to ride horses in case our cars break down? We've drifted from everyone know how to farm and grow food, to few.

I don't know what the right answer is... but i find these kinds of topics fascinating.

It all depends on what you're doing in life. Being able to multiply and do other math in my head has often given me advantages over coworkers and competitors who couldn't.

And of course there are the everyday situations. I just came back from a pizza lunch with my son and I corrected the cashier who was over charging me. And yesterday when two cashiers armed with a calculator at the grocery store couldn't compute how much change to give me - the total was $115.01. I handed him a $100 bill, a $20 bill and a penny. The penny threw them off and they couldn't figure out what number to enter in the calculator for the amount I'd given them.