Reality Check by Dave Whamond for June 24, 2022

Relatively simple — live within your means. Don’t spent $700 a month on tattoos if you only have $500 a month in disposable income. Just one example.

This is what most people don’t realize. Basic algebra is an essential life skill and you might need it any time. And just like how you at some point need to learn how to ride something or drive something (and still can survive somewhat without such knowledge but it makes your life harder), same with basic algebra.

Back in high school when I learned the quadratic equation, I asked when will I ever use it. Then ten years later I was working on how to code three bytes of data into two bytes and discovered that the cubic equation (the quadratic on steroids) was the perfect solution.

It will let you realize how much faster you can fill your swimming pool using Hose A AND Hose B.

This used to be HomeEc. Remember that? It was cut so that money could go to football and cramming for Dubya’s beloved high stakes tests

Freshmen in college are hounded to get credit cards now.

My freshmen year, many decades ago, we were given free cigarettes to get us smoking the latest brands. How generous……

https://www.gocomics.com/saturday-morning-breakfast-cereal/2017/11/05

household budget – make more than you spend

I actually use household budgets as a means of explaining the importance of algebra

Algebra could help. The quadratic formula probably not so much.

This may literally be the first time I have seen the quadratic formula in over 40 years. And I even immediately recognized it and remembered what it’s for and how to use it! As for ever having needed it in all this time, well, that is another matter….

Al-Gebra: the arab terror organization that strikes fear into the hearts of high schoolers.

Because you want to stay a doofus all your life.

Yeah, teach basic math and its applications not something you use to go to the moon!

As a public service to Reality Check readers everywhere , I give you:

https://youtu.be/IlNAJl36-10

( copy & paste if you dare … BwaHaHaHa )

The quadratic formula. I use it every day…not!

Quadratics - oh, how i love them, how I love them….

My parents taught me how to budget, how to write a check, how to make change, how to put items on lay-away (pre-dates the introduction of credit cards), to wait until price is reduced then you get the latest model at a better price.

You only need to master simple arithmetic and restraint to effectively manage household finances.

This is not a quadratic equation, it is a formula for finding the two roots of a quadratic equation. I’m sure to get trolled for this, but the hubris of bragging how about the uselessness of algebra seems more like a defensive mechanism to avoid admitting ignorance.

Yep

The maths for household budgets is taught to kids in their first few years of school. Once you get to algebra you should know how to add and subtract. The mere idea that schools don’t teach the skills to do a household budget is crazy.

I have taught secondary Math at every level for 17 years. Every Fall I freely admit to my students how essentially every formula I’m about to teach them will be useless in everyday life. Then I point out that a parking lot full of shiny, waxed cars was “essentially useless” when Daniel Larusso won the All-Valley tournament. If you’re going into a STEAM career, the concepts might come in handy, but even then they play a minor role. However, all that calculation is the most efficient means by which one becomes an expert in critical thinking, quantitative evaluation, comparative analysis, identification of valid/invalid arguments, etc. My classes are soon at ease and more willing to run with it, and we have a pretty good time working through what too often gets a bad rap as the most boring subject in school.