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This is interesting. Does that make you smarter? Wouldn't having a total grasp of adding 6 seven times be considered smarter than using that shortcut? And wou

This is interesting. Does that make you smarter? Wouldn't having a total grasp of adding 6 seven times be considered smarter than using that shortcut? And wouldn't the logical evolution of that mental shortcut be to simply use the tool in your pocket instead? I too have similar tricks for math, but there must be plenty I'm not aware of because I just use my phone, and because there is no clear incentive nor reward to learning these tricks. Is it smarter to memorize math shortcuts that you don't actually need, or is it smarter to circumvent them and employ your attention fruitfully elsewhere?

willsoon 3y ago
I also know a man who was born without a left hand. He said he never needed it anyway and wondered how people found that annoying thing useful.
- broscillator 3y ago
  Did that man get a bionic replacement that was stronger and faster than his flesh?
karmakurtisaani 3y ago
> This is interesting. Does that make you smarter? I'd rather not think in terms of "smarter" or "intelligent", since then you open the discussion to nitpicking what we mean by those anyway. I'm more interested in how to think reasonably fast and accurately, i.e., how schools typically measure smarts. There these shortcuts absolutely help. > Wouldn't having a total grasp of adding 6 seven times be considered smarter than using that shortcut? Not necessarily, since by having to do more calculations exposes you to the risk of errors, and being overall slower. The user AlanYx had a very nice response to my previous comment on this. > And wouldn't the logical evolution of that mental shortcut be to simply use the tool in your pocket instead? Well.. Depends. If every time you see a multiplication, your immediate reaction is to go to your pocket and start typing numbers, you have a lot less feeling for the numbers themselves, and your flow of thinking is interrupted by thinking about the phone. > Is it smarter to memorize math shortcuts that you don't actually need, or is it smarter to circumvent them and employ your attention fruitfully elsewhere? Ideally, sure. However, in practice what tends to happen is that you do the calculation with your phone, get your answer, look at the phone in your hand and see all the social media notifications. The attention then goes to checking the messages, reacting to a funny meme and scrolling the latest social media outrages. You can't really think of the phone as a microchip in your brain that instantly provides you with the correct answer, it comes with its usual drawbacks too.

willsoon 3y ago

I also know a man who was born without a left hand. He said he never needed it anyway and wondered how people found that annoying thing useful.

broscillator 3y ago
Did that man get a bionic replacement that was stronger and faster than his flesh?

karmakurtisaani 3y ago

> This is interesting. Does that make you smarter? I'd rather not think in terms of "smarter" or "intelligent", since then you open the discussion to nitpicking what we mean by those anyway. I'm more interested in how to think reasonably fast and accurately, i.e., how schools typically measure smarts. There these shortcuts absolutely help. > Wouldn't having a total grasp of adding 6 seven times be considered smarter than using that shortcut? Not necessarily, since by having to do more calculations exposes you to the risk of errors, and being overall slower. The user AlanYx had a very nice response to my previous comment on this. > And wouldn't the logical evolution of that mental shortcut be to simply use the tool in your pocket instead? Well.. Depends. If every time you see a multiplication, your immediate reaction is to go to your pocket and start typing numbers, you have a lot less feeling for the numbers themselves, and your flow of thinking is interrupted by thinking about the phone. > Is it smarter to memorize math shortcuts that you don't actually need, or is it smarter to circumvent them and employ your attention fruitfully elsewhere? Ideally, sure. However, in practice what tends to happen is that you do the calculation with your phone, get your answer, look at the phone in your hand and see all the social media notifications. The attention then goes to checking the messages, reacting to a funny meme and scrolling the latest social media outrages. You can't really think of the phone as a microchip in your brain that instantly provides you with the correct answer, it comes with its usual drawbacks too.