Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site watdcsu.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watdcsu!herbie From: herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong, Computing Services) Newsgroups: net.college,net.flame Subject: Re: Does someone REALLY belive this? Message-ID: <624@watdcsu.UUCP> Date: Thu, 8-Nov-84 10:29:06 EST Article-I.D.: watdcsu.624 Posted: Thu Nov 8 10:29:06 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 9-Nov-84 07:15:35 EST References: <1668@ucf-cs.UUCP>, <605@whuxlm.UUCP> Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 30 If shoelaces become obsolete, it matters little that your child can tie shoelaces or not. It depends on your view of the future. Of course, shoelaces are just one example of this. On the other hand, losing arithmetic skills because of the high use of calculators is a more serious thing. I know that even I use them for my, mostly trivial, calculations and other things. The introduction of calculators and computers has allowed people to have a deeper understanding of the mathematical structure of a problem by hiding the details, such as arithmetic. The covering up the details has a price--it allows one to forget the details altogether so often that one loses those skills. Back in the days of ancient history (when computers were still programmed from a console :-)), one had to know all about the hardware registers, instruction op-codes, and instruction sizes to write a program. Now we let compilers do the work. Even assemblers are a step above. All the hardware knowledge was essential at one time to be a programmer, but only a few people these days require it. Is arithmetic destined to become such a skill, practiced by the few in number theory? Should arithmetic become a graduate course to be practised by scholars? Herb Chong... PS. Incidentally, I own an HP-15C, and HP-67, and a TI LCD Programmer. I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!watdcsu!herbie CSNET: herbie%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet ARPA: herbie%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa NETNORTH, BITNET: herbie@watdcs, herbie@watdcsu