This is exactly the type of simple equation that always drove me nuts in school. I could take one look at that and my brain fucking just knows the answer. It takes me like 10 times as long to write it down to show my work (not that it is hard here, but my brain does not supply that part by default.) This is why I had to re-take Algebra 2. The way they made us do things just didn’t work for my brain. When it does work, math can be fun, but usually the our teachers taught it made everything super dull. Maybe when my kids get there, they can teach me the new ways.
Did you take a lot of college level math courses? I too remember feeling like it was really tedious doing all the steps to rearrange an equation when I already knew the solution before I picked up my pencil. But that’s all algebra is: the art of rearranging equations. I know what you mean, simple formulas like the ones above are frustrating because they’re easy with to solve without any manipulation, but that’s just the foundation where you gotta start. In later courses like calculus the math gets complicated enough that there’s simply no getting it at a glance, it has to be rearranged and broken down in stages until you get to something like the formula above. Personally, if I hadn’t learned those skills through doing the boring show-your-work-even-though-it’s-trivia types of problems, I either would’ve figured it out on my own in later courses or washed out.
Because inevitably, someone is gonna say it, I will take it upon myself to be that guy.
*ahem*...x = 3
This is exactly the type of simple equation that always drove me nuts in school. I could take one look at that and my brain fucking just knows the answer. It takes me like 10 times as long to write it down to show my work (not that it is hard here, but my brain does not supply that part by default.) This is why I had to re-take Algebra 2. The way they made us do things just didn’t work for my brain. When it does work, math can be fun, but usually the our teachers taught it made everything super dull. Maybe when my kids get there, they can teach me the new ways.
Did you take a lot of college level math courses? I too remember feeling like it was really tedious doing all the steps to rearrange an equation when I already knew the solution before I picked up my pencil. But that’s all algebra is: the art of rearranging equations. I know what you mean, simple formulas like the ones above are frustrating because they’re easy with to solve without any manipulation, but that’s just the foundation where you gotta start. In later courses like calculus the math gets complicated enough that there’s simply no getting it at a glance, it has to be rearranged and broken down in stages until you get to something like the formula above. Personally, if I hadn’t learned those skills through doing the boring show-your-work-even-though-it’s-trivia types of problems, I either would’ve figured it out on my own in later courses or washed out.