Academia in a nutshell
(media.kotakuinaction2.win)
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I actually thought about this the other day when a bartender was trying to make change for me. They got confused when I gave them $60 for a $39 tab so I'd have cash for tip, and I was explaining "my bill was a bit under $40 and I gave you $60, so you should be giving me a bit over $20 back". And it occurred to me that it's the sort of estimation you learn when you don't have a calculator on you at all times.
I never had to work with a slide rule, but I learned from engineers who did. But I didn't have a calculator on me at all times, so I still had to learn estimation from people who were masters at it even though I myself didn't need to be. But I don't have the same level of mastery of the skill as those who taught me because I don't need it as much. The generation who learn it from me won't need it at all. Yet even though they don't need it, something is lost by them not learning it, the same as something was lost by my generation learning it but not mastering it.
I'll guess we'll find out if this all matters if planes start falling out of the sky more often then it seems they ought, because no one looked at a result from the computer and thought "hey that doesn't feel right".
the thing reference as being lost is called mathematical intuition and regular estimation is the single most important foundation of the skill. Having Mathematical Intuition is far far more important than any single other thing because it is the reference point that will inform you that a calculation is incorrect, that a statistic is bullshit, that somebody is trying to fleece you etc.
It really is, and I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain it to seasoned engineers. They show me something and I just say "you do your unit math on that, because it doesn't make sense if you did" and get blank stares back.
So many problems -- even those given to experienced engineers -- are solvable by simply remembering basic math everyone was taught (I was going to say "everyone learned" but obviously that's a false statement) in high school.
Anyone who can't subtract 39 from 60 in an instant probably shouldn't be tending bar.