We are worse at rote arithmetic but better at math. More people complete calculus and beyond now than ever in history. The major inflection appears to be in the

We are worse at rote arithmetic but better at math. More people complete calculus and beyond now than ever in history. The major inflection appears to be in the late 90’s and early 00’s after the SAT allowed calculators and presumably schools became more permissive over time. https://maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/cspcc/InsightsandRecommendations.pdf https://maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/cspcc/InsightsandRec... I often hear people bemoan the loss of arithmetic skill. I will never understand that. Beyond very basic arithmetic for accelerating daily life or saving time from reaching for a calculator it has almost no actual value in life and knowledge of the mechanical shortcuts taught in school teach you absolutely NOTHING about math - like actual math, not extremely limited and specialized edge case of grade school arithmetic.