No matter where you go, you will always see mathematicians being used as calculators by their friends. However, digging deeper, you will find that most mathematicians aren’t great at arithmetics.
I can never forget in university; my math professor would solve these complex problems and solve them until he got to the algebraic portion. Looking at the incomplete problem, he would say, “We did our job; the rest is for the engineers to solve.” Not once did I see that teacher complete an entire question.
These days, complex calculators are made for engineers, but we see that even at the elementary level, students are using calculators for simple arithmetic processes. Despite this, many arithmetic problems can be solved using simple tricks, often even faster than a calculator.
Doing arithmetic in your mind is also helpful in training your brain. After doing arithmetic in your head, you will start to feel that your brain is under serious strain. You can also learn mathematical magic with your kids using the techniques below. [For further reading, you can get Arthur Benjamin’s Secrets of Mental Math]
Before I start, this article is not for the mathematicians among you. I would appreciate it if you did not sound like Albert Einstein in the comments below.
