this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2025
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I mean... Fuck AI and all, but hard way = better is definitely not some universal principal we should be applying to education.
The most famous example is all of the people who grew up when calculators were large and expensive pieces of equipment, who were told "you need to memorize your multiplication tables because you won't always have a calculator with you", which sounds absolutely ridiculous to anyone today.
I think it's important for humanity to ask itself: which cognitive processes should we dedicate our fleshy organic brains to, and which cognitive processes are better off outsourced to external technologies? "AI" as a modern buzzword seems to be trying to positively brand these products that are trying (and usually failing) to take on processes that are best left within the brain.
I take your point but multiplication is a really bad example. It's one of the few things in life where really doing the rote memorization well, once, pays off lifelong. It can be argued "doesn't pay off lifelong for everyone!", and I mean, strictly speaking that's true.
But not learning multiplication properly is basically a death sentence for keeping up with later math classes, which is exactly what convinces a kid they are "bad at math" and shouldn't pursue entire areas of the working world, generally very rewarding areas, too.
My daughter is not naturally strong at math and I am naturally not authoritarian, but this is one case where being forced to do the work properly one good time (as in learn it truly well, once) is too valuable to let slip.
I'd say the ability to do basic arithmetic in your head is a lifelong boon for anyone.
At Lowe's we would load bags of mulch. Guy pulls up with a pickup and an order for 30, "OK, we're going to do 6 stacks of 5." Motherfuckers, customers and coworkers, would fuck it up every time. Need 72 bricks? 9 stacks of 6. Nope! Idiots would count every brick.
When I ran a reprographics shop I found myself embarrassed that I couldn't automatically total a few items, so I practiced until I could. The scion of the local big-time contractor came in and I figured his invoice in my head. He saw me pause for two seconds, "Dude. Why don't you just use a calculator." "Faster to do it in my head." "Yeah, but a calculator doesn't make mistakes." "I don't either. It's only adding a couple of small numbers." He walked away shaking his head at my foolishness.
Completely agree with you. But hilariously, 9 stacks of 6 bricks only accounts for 54 of them...please don't change it lmao
FUCK IT. IT STAYS.
You're a real one!