(The genesis of this is the “how much math do you need for CFA” thread.)
What do you answer when somebody asks you this? I never really know what to say.
I can add/subtract/multiply/divide fairly well in my head. I understand “please excuse my dear aunt sally”. I know what “a squared plus b squared equals c squared” means. I can calculate how much bigger a 47-inch TV is than a 37-inch one. So I guess I’m good at math.
But I know absolutely nothing about calculus, linear algebra, matrix theory, differential equations, or trig. So I guess I’m not good at math.
I suck at doing math in my head. People think that because I’m a charterholder and I work with numbers that I can look at a restaurant bill for 3 seconds, look up at the ceiling for 2 more seconds, and tell everyone how much they owe, including a sensitivity analysis for the tip %.
Yeah that happened to me once where we were at dinner with a big group of people and they handed me the bill to divide up because I am a “finance guy”. I was quite embarrassing. I actually think I get performance anxiety if I am asked to do math in front of people. I fine when no one is around but if I have to think out mental math equations in front of people I get all flustered because I don’t want to embarrass myself. I just need to take my calc everywhere and put it in my front pocket…
I think the kids in school aren’t required to perform math in their heads enough times for it to become a skill. Calculators and now ipads are introduced way too early.
I remember we learned how to do multiplication by the end of the 1st grade and the HW for the summer was to learn the whole multiplication table by heart.
Now I am reading on women’s forums how their kids might or might not learn (depending on school) multiplication in the second grade.
In those situations, just say guys that I really need Excel with Macros enabled to do this calculation, as it will require a multivariate regression with senstivitiy analysis. They’ll think you are smart and you’ll punt the responsbility lol
And I don’t think it’s such a bad thing if calculators are introduced early. The fact of life (whether people want to admit it or not) is that half of those kids will never understand math, whether they get a calculator or not. And the half that do will understand it whether they get a calculator or not.
You need to know 3x4 by heart, but you don’t really need to know how to multiply 28 x 177.
Right, especially since you don’t have any fiduciary responsibility when you inform them of how much they should pay you. It’s almost like they want to get taken to the cleaners.
Even “muppets” go to restaurants, it seems. :-p
(not intended as character stab, just a funny twist on the idea of finance guy dividing the bill withoug a fiduciary requirement)
I used to be able to do arithmetic very well in my head. But I’m out of practice. I’m still better than most people (and so I end up doing the calculation for split-the-bill a lot), but I am very aware that I used to be better/faster/more accurate on mental math.
I was never very good at the super math questions in my head. There is some book out there - secrets of mental math - which points out some interesting short cuts that work to do impressive calculations. But most of them only apply in very specific kinds of situations.
I’d say there’s lots of math that I am good at, lots of math I don’t know, and some math that I still struggle with. My parents made me do kumon growing up, so that made me pretty good at the elementary arithmetic and algebra. I would say that the most challenging math I know is Bayesian statistics. I’m usually terrible at elementary Bayesian statistics problems, but I can write code that will do more advanced Bayesian statistics correctly.
The British version of this thread is, “Are you good at maths?” Math>maths, IMO.
Yeah people assume that I like/am good at math because of my job but they couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure I took stats in college and pre-calc in high school, barely passed but whatever, who uses that crap anyway. I don’t enjoy math for the sake of math.
I can do basic stuff in my head (leftover skills from working jobs around a cash register) and basic % changes, but I have my calculator next to my laptop all day anyway.
Yeah, this is a problem in a few school systems (Canada and the US), even in private school to some extent, and it’s a good idea when parents are proactive on that front. I already taught my daughter to do some multiplications, three-digit addition with carrying digits, negative numbers, and adding fractions. She’ll begin first grade in August.
Key is to teach them that math is easy and fun at an early age, before kids are exposed to the prevailing view among many children that math is difficult. Once they have a positive attitude, the rest is easy. Now she demands every day to know what the percentage symbol is and how it’s used. I have to tell her that she’s not ready yet.
If she turns out to be at least half as attractive as her mom when she’s in high school, hopefully being proficient at math will keep the horny mofers away. Stay away, mofers.
Well, the main problem with not being able to do math in your head is that it makes you vulnerable to other people’s mistakes or manipulations. Fortunately, you can often get most of the way just by being a good estimator.
The guy at 7-11 overcharges me for something, and I point out - hey, that deal said 2 for $3.33, and you’re charging me $4.43? What’s up.
The guy looks up at me, shrugs and says “Yeah, but there’s tax.”
I say. “There no way that 9% tax on $3.33 adds up to $4.43”
Sheepishly, he recalculates it, and sure enough, it’s $3.62.
In that case, it was only 86 cents I saved, but it could easily have been some more dramatic calculation.
Worse, the guy behind the counter probably genuinely thought it was tax. How many people get taken by this sort of thing, and how many people get taken in with bigger numbers.
That’s great that you are so proactive with your daughter! and I agree that teachers should make math fun for kids, esp at the beginning.
I also noticed that in US parents are often tell their daughters right away that math is for boys and that girls are (almost as a rule) bad at math. Makes me furious!!! Uggghhh
LOL at mofers. I presume you are a dad? My dad (as I was later informed) told my mom once when I was a kid something along the lines: “I hate him already!” lol
