I have nothing but admiration for all you educated lads and lassies. you make maths and numbers look so easy, but I don't understand a word of it. I suppose that you had to be good if you competed on Countdown.Phil Reynolds wrote:Economy of expression is often the enemy of comprehension, as is the case with text-speak for example. Bracketed arithmetic expressions with strict operator precedence are fine for computer programming languages where conciseness comes a close second to unambiguity. But, really, their top-down approach is counter-intuitive. When explaining a solution like the one above, a contestant will say something like, "I multiplied the 2s to get 4, then added 4 to get 8; I multiplied the 8 by the 100..." etc; and the way Carol and Rachel write it down reflects that. To do it your way, Rachel would have to start writing in the middle of the board, leaving plenty of space all round to extend the expression in either direction as the contestant goes through the explanation, and inevitably a certain amount of second-guessing would be required. The way it's currently done is sometimes long-winded but ultimately much simpler and clearer.Will Ransom wrote:it is far more economical to say something like 100×(2×2 + 4) + 8×8 = 864 than to spell it all out laboriously as she does.
When I was a Union branch secretary for A.S.L.E.F (you know the one, hated by everybody). I had to let my younger brother add up the contributions I collected every Month. when I tried, I came up with a different figure every time.
However, I have compensations. I can do practically anything else. I can build a house, including the brickwork, the woodwork, the electrics,the plumbing. I am a qualified City and Guilds Plumber. I went in for that because I was so poor as an Engine driver, I had to do another job,as most of us did. I can Paint, and at 13 years old my picture was framed and hung in the teacher's staff room. Another of my achievements, was beating the Kent Chess Champion in postal chess.
Another one of my assets is a strong sense of humility and modesty, and if only I could add up, I would be perfect.
However! My cunning plan to get rich by being a full time Plumber came to nought, when I developed Angina. I stayed on the Railway and suddenly became rich when I retired with a nice pension.