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I'd find it hard to navigate life competently without learning geometry, algebra and trigonometry. Calculus as well. Painting a room, taking out a loan and (in

I'd find it hard to navigate life competently without learning geometry, algebra and trigonometry. Calculus as well. Painting a room, taking out a loan and (in ways) driving a car all incorporate those skills. You can do each task without any knowledge of those math subjects, but you can reason about them much better with a solid understanding of the fundamentals.

douche 10y ago
I wouldn't bet on that. I've known too many carpenters and general contractors who flunked out well before calculus. Now, they may figure stuff out the hard way, working off approximations and rules of thumb, but they figure it out, and do the hard work, too.
- darpa_escapee 10y ago
  How do you determine how much paint you'd need to paint a wall without basic geometry? How about figuring out what angles and lengths to cut materials? If you can't physically measure a side of wall/house/etc you're going to have to use algebra, trig and/or geometry to figure out the lengths.
  - ori_b 10y ago
    Surely, you're joking. > How do you determine how much paint you'd need to paint a wall without basic geometry? You guess, and if you're short, you buy more. If you're over, you use it on the next job of throw it out. > How about figuring out what angles and lengths to cut materials? There are lots of methods. You can lay it out and mark it on the ground before making cuts. You can build forms and templates out of scrap or cardboard via eyeballing and adjustment. Math can save some time, but you can usually get by without it.
  - ori_b 10y ago
    Surely, you're joking. > How do you determine how much paint you'd need to paint a wall without basic geometry? You guess, and if you're short, you buy more. If you're over, you use it on the next job of throw it out. > How about figuring out what angles and lengths to cut materials? There are lots of methods. You can lay it out and mark it on the ground before making cuts. You can build forms and templates out of scrap or cardboard via eyeballing and adjustment.

douche 10y ago

I wouldn't bet on that. I've known too many carpenters and general contractors who flunked out well before calculus. Now, they may figure stuff out the hard way, working off approximations and rules of thumb, but they figure it out, and do the hard work, too.

darpa_escapee 10y ago
How do you determine how much paint you'd need to paint a wall without basic geometry? How about figuring out what angles and lengths to cut materials? If you can't physically measure a side of wall/house/etc you're going to have to use algebra, trig and/or geometry to figure out the lengths.
- ori_b 10y ago
  Surely, you're joking. > How do you determine how much paint you'd need to paint a wall without basic geometry? You guess, and if you're short, you buy more. If you're over, you use it on the next job of throw it out. > How about figuring out what angles and lengths to cut materials? There are lots of methods. You can lay it out and mark it on the ground before making cuts. You can build forms and templates out of scrap or cardboard via eyeballing and adjustment. Math can save some time, but you can usually get by without it.
- ori_b 10y ago
  Surely, you're joking. > How do you determine how much paint you'd need to paint a wall without basic geometry? You guess, and if you're short, you buy more. If you're over, you use it on the next job of throw it out. > How about figuring out what angles and lengths to cut materials? There are lots of methods. You can lay it out and mark it on the ground before making cuts. You can build forms and templates out of scrap or cardboard via eyeballing and adjustment.