Re: People are too dependant on calculators
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Re: People are too dependant on calculators
your missing the point. I meant that people use calculators too much
for the simple things. If you have to figure out 11^6, dont sit there
and multiply it out or reference to pascals triangle, type it into the
calculator. The converse to this is if you get 11!/9! I am willing to
bet that around 5% of the people on this newsgroup would immedietly say
"11*10, or 110", another 5% would say "I'll sugest it to my programming
friend so I can solve many problems like this faster" and the remaining
90% would type the thing in. When I get a problem like the one you
stated, x^5+2x^4... (maybe I am just weird) I LIKE to solve it without
the calculator. Sure it may be faster with the calculator, but it seems
artificial. There are times when a calculator is faster, but dosen't
help learing, when it is faster and helps learning, is slower and dosent
help learning, and finally when it is slower and helps learning. Until
people figure out when the cacl does help learning, whether it is faster
or not, people should just put them down and not use them at all. I
beleive that I have figured out when to and when not to use my
calculator, and find myself rarely turning it on and going to the
solver...
Donald F McKay wrote:
> Why don't you try to calculate x^5+2x^4+3x^3-x^2+10x-90=0 on paper and
>
> see how long it takes, it took me 13 SECONDS to do it on my TI-85. Or
>
> remember 2 dozen formulas and know when to use them.
>
> Donald McKay
> donmckay@juno.com
>
> "Carpe diem" - Horace
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