Today, I want to write blog post which is absolutely not related to programming. It related to math and education in general those days. During work interviews, I see a lot of people, who was absolutely unable to calculate mentally. They just can’t understand, that it’s possible to do without calculators. When my kids (2nd, 6th and 7th grade) were small I taught them to play with numbers, and until 4th grade (bigger kids) they were able do it. but then school teachers “killed” this ability. Why people should use calculator for simple math operations, if he can do it mentally? Shame you, the modern educational system. Let’s go back and try to understand how people were able to live without devil devices, such as calculators…
Following the paint of Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky “Counting in their heads”. This painting is dated 1895.
As you can see at the painting, peasant kids trying to solve following exercise mentally:
(102 + 112 + 122 + 132 + 142) / 365
Keep reading to understand how >>