Comments on: Why You Need To Know Math

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:18:06 +0000

I do simple calculations at work for my co workers and they think I am some god. They give me this face of awe and I give them a look of “are you just that stupid?” I mean seriously… We lived without technology a long time ago and we lived fine!

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:18:33 +0000

It even applies to history. I was at Office Max with a friend when our cashier totaled up my purchase. “That’ll be $19.41,” she said. My friend and I said…at the same time…”a date that will live in infamy.” She looked puzzled so I asked her if she knew the significance of 1941. She thought for a minute and said excitedly, “That’s when Columbus came over!” My jaw dropped, so she tried to recover and said, “Oh wait, that was 1841.” There was an older man behind me who just shook his head.

I guarantee she knew who won American Idol though.

By: MarkO

MarkO — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:41:34 +0000

This bugs me all the time. Most of the time I just sit and wait for them to figure it out or call someone over to figure it out, but come on. Pretty funny story.

By: stetoscope

stetoscope — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:12:58 +0000

I guess their so bad in math because of excel or calculators. There might be something unessential in math, so they externalise the function.
Now, just think about the search of information on google, will we externalise our knowledge or memory while developping treatment capacity?

By: tamara

tamara — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:29:08 +0000

i’ve seen people use their fingers, use a calculator for simple addition/subtraction and i even helped a cashier once to figure out how much change she owed since it was a mom&pop establishment and they don’t always ring up items in the register to avoid paying taxes.

yesterday i took my daughter to CEC and overheard two employees talking about how a cashier rang up a girl for two ice cream cones for $10.00 when the sign clearly states $.99. apparently, the girl in question had slept with the cashier’s bf. the thing that baffled me is that the girl PAID the $10.00.

By: danielb

danielb — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:34:09 +0000

@ Mark, That’s pretty funny. At least in that instance it could be played off as having a mental lapse. Everyone has their stupid moments (God knows I do!).

@ Saddity Chic, haha, so I guess you say things without thinking too!

@ Philip, The % off of a % off is confusing for even people who are good at math!

By: Philip

Philip — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:58:22 +0000

It really is embarassing to see that go on. At least the lady was paying enough attention to see that it should be discounted and was not rung up correctly.

I have been to a store, the item was 50% off then the store was running a special that took over another 30%. The clerk didn’t know what to do so just rang it up 80% off, I guess I should have corrected them.

By: That Saddity Chic

That Saddity Chic — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:44:45 +0000

Sounds like something Iwould have said.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:18:52 +0000

I overheard this at the gym a couple years ago:

“Wow, fruit smoothies are 50% off! Only $2.50.”

“How much are they normally?”

(But wait, it gets worse…)

“How am I supposed to know? I hardly ever come to the juice bar.”