It became a meme a few years ago, people would post problems like this and argue about whose was right, as if there were no objective truth. It hurt to watch.
Comment on I dunno
banshee@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’m sorry but isn’t this elementary school math?
BanMe@lemmy.world 2 months ago
kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
Arguably, there is no objective truth, since the symbols and rules of mathematics are assigned arbitrarily, and are basically a social contract, just like language!
…Wait, that means there’s no objective meaning of “objective”, crap
BanMe@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Well yeah take enough shrooms and everything is suddenly exposed as the artificial construct that it is. But we don’t have time to wake up and reinvent language every morning ;)
SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 month ago
Arguably, there is no objective truth
Yes there is, just look in Maths textbooks
since the symbols and rules of mathematics are assigned arbitrarily
The signs are, the rules aren’t.
are basically a social contract, just like language!
Nope and nope. It’s a tool for calculating things, nothing like a language at all.
no objective meaning of “objective”
There is, in a dictionary, just like the rules of Maths are in Maths textbooks
bountygiver@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
ya this one is super unambiguously PEMDAS, the one that has more of an argument is the one with the division of whether
a/bcisa / (b * c)or(a / b) * cSmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 month ago
ya this one is super unambiguously PEMDAS
Spoiler alert: they all are
the one that has more of an argument is the one with the division of whether a/b© is a / (b * c) or (a / b) * c
No it doesn’t, The Distributive Law, a(b+c)=(ab+ac), thus a/b©=a/(bxc).
M0oP0o@mander.xyz 2 months ago
In most of the world? Yes.
SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 month ago
I’m sorry but isn’t this elementary school math?
No, high school. The Distributive Law isn’t taught until Year 7
untorquer@lemmy.world 2 months ago
We didn’t learn elements until high school tbf
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
In the rest of the world: yes.
In the US: I highly doubt it.
This is just basic math, if you can’t figure this out you’re probably 8 years old.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Probably some backwards-ass red state / red town shenanigans.
Math was always taught in my Blue cities. The atrocities of the US’s history was never left out of the curriculum.
We need to actually finish doing reconstruction and fix this country.
banshee@lemmy.world 2 months ago
In all fairness, I grew up in a small town in a very red state, but the education system there proved better than larger, more progressive parts of the state. The education I received was likely an outlier and not representative of the norm, but it did teach me that educators in an area do not necessarily mirror the rest of the population.
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Fix? It’s a duster fire. It may be hard to deal with, but a total collapse and completely rebuilding it feels like the better solution to the problem (so not based on a constitution made in completely different times with muskets and without internet etc).
So you were taught math. What languages did you learn besides English? What history did you learn, just US or also of other countries and the rest of the world? And talking about the rest of the world, how much did you learn about that? Countries, cultures, cities, geographic features like mountains, seas, etc. and how they were formed? What religions were taught about? What about history of music and art?
ICastFist@programming.dev 2 months ago
I think that ordering of calculation was taught around 5th grade back in my day (11yo)
Microw@piefed.zip 3 weeks ago
Yeah, I’d say the same for central europe. 5th and 6th grade are when they throw a lot of math expression rules at you.
banshee@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Thanks for confirming. I probably sounded too condescending but I wasn’t sure if it was a false memory.
I loved math as a kid though, so I ran through the curriculum as fast as I could to get to the good stuff. I think having older siblings helped - it gave me a preview of more interesting material.
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
My memory is shit, it was apparently 27 years ago if you’re right but I have no recollection to when it was. But it’s like cycling: it’s simple and once learned you never forget it.
Now I’m learning how to weld. We’re learning Ohm’s law, which is the same as order of calculation: easy basic shit, a bit far in my memory but you never forget it. But others in my class are really struggling with it. I don’t get it.
U = I R so R = U / I and I = U / R. P = U I so U = P / I and I = U / P. U=Volt, I=Ampère, R=Ω(Ohm), P=Watt
This was first year in high school if I remember correctly.
SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 month ago
The issue in the U.S. isn’t Maths textbooks (same rules as everywhere else), it’s poor teaching. U.S. Maths teachers aren’t required to have any Maths qualifications, and they’ve been sliding in world rankings for more than a decade now.
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Yeah, but even worse, you’re just talking about schools. You forgot about all the kids being home schooled, taught the earth is flat and an imaginary friend created everything in 7 days. Taught by parents who lack proper education themselves.
SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 month ago
I’m talking about anyone at all in the U.S. is allowed to teach Maths without any Maths qualifications
That happens in other countries too, and yet it’s the U.S. which has been sliding down the world rankings for more than a decade, the country that doesn’t require Maths teachers to have Maths qualifications.
That’s right, as proven by U.S. Maths textbooks
Partly right. there’s also people who just outright forgot the rules.
halferect@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Definitely taught in parts of the US, it’s a regional thing though
SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 month ago
It’s a how good is your Maths teacher (who isn’t required to have any Maths qualifications) question. The rules are the same everywhere.