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What the hell does calculus have to do with 99% of all "tech" jobs? Nothing. Nothing at all. I can't even fathom why knowing anything at all about calculus is

• WalterBright 5y ago
  Ordering parts out of a catalog and assembling them per instructions is what a mechanic does. An engineer designs the parts and writes the instructions. Some things you can't do without math: curve fitting, statistics, implementing Shazam, 3D graphics, write a game engine, do data flow analysis, implement a neural net, non-trivial use of floating point, write a lunar lander game, etc.
  • elcritch 5y ago
    I'd suggest that even for more mundane problems learning calculus will expand one's ability to think at a higher level. Being exposed to an advanced maths with real theory behind it like calculus gives even the most routine code jockey exposure to concepts and patterns of thinking beyond even the brightest scholars 1000 years ago. Even just the notion of a derivative yields a lot of benefit for basic financial thinking.
    • WalterBright 5y ago
      You're right. I remember two pages of math in a college economic textbook. Reading it, I realized they were doing differentiation by going around the horn. Instead of requiring calculus for the class, they taught it. Except they never mentioned the words "calculus", "differentiation", or "integration". I suppose they figured those words would dissuade people from the class :-/ The amusing thing is the poor schlubs taking the class would never realize that they'd learned calculus!