4 ms·

I think a big issue with how we teach math, is the casualness with which we introduce children to floating points. Its like: Hey little Bobby, now that you can

I think a big issue with how we teach math, is the casualness with which we introduce children to floating points. Its like: Hey little Bobby, now that you can count here are the ints and multiplication/division. For the rest of your life there will be things to learn about them and their algebra. Tomorrow we'll learn how to put a ".25" behind it. Nothing serious. Just adds multiple different types of infinities with profound impact on exactness and computability, which you have yet to learn about. But it lets you write 1/4 without a fraction which means its simple!

layer8 2y ago
There is no floating point here.
criddell 2y ago
> For the rest of your life there will be things to learn about them and their algebra. That’s just not true for the vast majority of people.
- itishappy 2y ago
  It's available to learn whether or not they take advantage of it.
  - criddell 2y ago
    Sure. Just like open heart surgery, Medieval English, and penguin husbandry.
itishappy 2y ago
Totally agree. It bothered me when I was younger, though I had no idea how to explain why, but this should be deeply unsettling to everyone who encounters it: 1/4 = 0.25 exact 1/3 = 0.333... infinitely repeating approximation
- grandempire 2y ago
  Oh that number? It’s just a Laurent series. Just take the limit of the partial sums.
- itishappy 2y ago
  1/1 a 1/2 ah 1/3 aH! 1/4 ahh 1/5 ah 1/6 ahH! 1/7 aHHHHHH! 1/8 ahhh 1/9 aH! 1/10 ah 1/11 aHH! 1/12 ahhH! 1/13 aHHHHHH! 1/14 ahHHHHHH! 1/15 ahH! 1/16 ahhhh 1/17 aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! 1/18 ahH! 1/19 aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! 1/20 ahh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_decimal#Table_of_values https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_decimal#Table_of_val...