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No but that’s actually exactly what ‘new math’ was about. The thing Tom Lehrer was lampooning was all this talk of the ‘tens place’ and the ‘hundreds place’ rat
by jameshart 2y ago
No but that’s actually exactly what ‘new math’ was about. The thing Tom Lehrer was lampooning was all this talk of the ‘tens place’ and the ‘hundreds place’ rather than just plugging and chugging the digits, you know;
Seven plus six is thirteen carry the one leaves three, four plus eight is twelve carry the one leaves two, two plus four is six, five plus one is six, two six six two three…
Seeing that as a decomposition of multiples of powers of ten and how that makes ‘carrying’ happen is exactly a result of having a deeper understanding of the way the numbers work.
- nerdponx 2y agoYeah but what's to lampoon For the student who doesn't understand, one rote algorithm is as boring and stupid as any other. That student is plugging and chugging all the same, whether or not they have heard of a "tens place". For the student who does understand, the "new" algorithm at least is elucidating and actually makes sense as a direct application of the basic principles of our number system. The "tens place" is in fact a real thing, regardless of what you call it.