Academia in a nutshell
(media.kotakuinaction2.win)
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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.