I'm looking for an actual answer here. We're in 2016 and we have calculators that can do anything and everything...

I'm looking for an actual answer here. We're in 2016 and we have calculators that can do anything and everything. My question is why in the world do we need to know how to solve problems? I see how we would need to know how to set up problems so we can put it into the calculator but the calculator solves the problem for us. So why should anyone in this day and age need to know how to solve the problems in algebra and trigonometry?

Other urls found in this thread:

imo-official.org/problems/IMO2015SL.pdf
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

It helps build problem solving skills. What's the point of learning Algebra when you use a calculator to solve all your problems? What happens when you get to advanced levels of math and you have no clue how to solve problems because you are used to just plugging it in? Math is taught without dependency on a calculator because when you learn math the answer is only half the problem, the meat of mathematics is solving and understanding why things work.

Since you mentioned you aren't trolling ill give you an example. Hundreds of years ago, we didnt know how to calculate the area of arbitrary shapes. It wasnt something we had a formula for or something we could "calculate" with an abacus. Not until Newton/Leibniz invented calculus could we do so. Calculators can only solve problems that have first been solved by humans. Sure a calculator can solve your trigonometry and algebra problems, but the calculator was programmed to do so based off of logic and rules created by humans. As humanity faces tougher and more abstract mathematical problems in our future, we need clever people devising new methods and strategies to tackle these problems. Calculators are only a tool, they do not possess the ability to think intelligently and solve any problem thrown at them...at least for now

A calculator doesn't teach you how algebra or trigonometry works.

but why do you need to know how it works when the calculator does

The calculator doesnt know, its only programmed to run some algorithm to solve the problem as fast as possible.

>all high-school algebra and trigonometry are trivial
imo-official.org/problems/IMO2015SL.pdf

someone out there needs to understand how this shit works

it probably isn't you though so rest easy

Smells like underage...

>le why would I ever need math in the real world
>le calculators is all we need to do math
>le current year xD

Calculator doesn't teach you how to solve problems, only aids you to bypass trivial mental work.

For instance, trigonometric functions, learning how it works will help you later to understand how to solve certain integrals and later how to find nun-numerical solutions to models you propose. And nope, computers don't make models for you.

Maybe I'm not at a high enough point in my academic career (just started my PhD program) but honestly it's kind of an understandable thing. For me if it can't be done with Monte Carlo or RK6, it just doesn't need to be done. Setting up the problem is 99% of the problem to me.

Dude no way you are doing a PhD and asking such a question seriously..... unless your PhD is in woman's rights or any other SJW topic.

You post like a summerfag, lurk moar

Experimental physics, but close I guess. Do you not know what Monte Carlo or RK 6 are? They're numerical methods for solving just about every problem I've come across. I'm not the best at math, but I don't really need to know the ins and outs of every tool I use to solve problems. Not every blacksmith needs to know how his hammer was built to make a good sword. For some people math is just a tool, and the "why's" really aren't that important.

How the fuck are you supposed to enter problems if you don't know what you're entering?

Because you need to know how several problems work to solve a problem that hasn't been solved yet, or to come up with new problems.

Calculators don't have creativity.

>physics
>the "why's" [sic] really aren't that important
>

3/10 I replied

My bad, I've been drinking a bit. But do you honestly think that every field that uses some form of math requires a deep fundamental understanding of every underlying principle in action? Not everyone is or wants to be a mathematician. I'm dumb and suck at math, that's why I picked physics. Sometimes knowing how to use a tool is all you need.

A blacksmith could get by without understanding his tool of the trade, possibly. A blacksmith that understands his hammer can understand what swords he can make with his hammer, what swords he can't, the swords he could make with another hammer, the effect of certain swings, etc

I'm a cellist, I use my knowledge of the physics behind the instrument, bow, acoustics etc all the time. How do all the forces applied by my arms to the bow/string add up, are they as efficient as they could be? Why is an octave above open A halfway down the string while an octave above the first E on the A string is a third of the string's length apart from that E? What can I let gravity do for me, how do I get the bow into the string in a way my arm can tolerate the most? Now that I've typed all this I realize it's mostly irrelevant, but oh well.

So you can fix the calculator when it breaks down.

What calculator solves triple integrals?

Someone has to create the calculator, dumb shit.

Because you need to actually figure what to punch in in a real life situation. Plus why would you want that? I was fucking pissed when I got to geometry in high school and they literally just taught us how to find sin tan etc by punching it into our calculators. It was boring as all hell, probably preparing us for being a worthless cog in a machine.

But you do know what you're entering. You're the designated X equation guy.