Arithmetic continues to be the universal bugbear, so far as academics are concerned. We are to be held responsible for this anti-maths mindset. We are all terrified of mathematics and we seem to bequeath this to our offsprings, siblings, neighbours etc. The common refrain being “I am good at science/arts /philosophy/astronomy/all other ologies, except mathematics”.
An acquaintance was once told by a car salesman on phone , that an offering of 25% off was on cards on recent purchases,and when asked as to what amount that meant, there was a profound silence on the other end . The poor guy apparently had no calculator/ calculating ability at hand . After a long pause , he cleared his throat and said-“You can see it for yourself ma’am , how much you profit from this sale !”
Needless to say, my maths-phobic friend slammed the phone . This ultimate insult of being reminded of her rudimentary arithmetic skills by a total stranger pissed her off big time , and she retaliated by telling all and sundry never to buy any car/ automobile from this particular showroom.
An acquaintance was once told by a car salesman on phone , that an offering of 25% off was on cards on recent purchases,and when asked as to what amount that meant, there was a profound silence on the other end . The poor guy apparently had no calculator/ calculating ability at hand . After a long pause , he cleared his throat and said-“You can see it for yourself ma’am , how much you profit from this sale !”
Needless to say, my maths-phobic friend slammed the phone . This ultimate insult of being reminded of her rudimentary arithmetic skills by a total stranger pissed her off big time , and she retaliated by telling all and sundry never to buy any car/ automobile from this particular showroom.
Hahaha......so true. This reminds me of my PhD supervisor who was anti- automation techniques. He used to hate the presentation of amounts using calculator or any other software so to say. He would instantly challenge a number with three designations after decimal point....Automation is killing human skills.
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