Comment by jampekka
1 month ago
I've been using a Python prompt or the browser URL bar for simple maths for over a decade. I don't see much added value in doing arithmetic manually, humans really suck at it.
1 month ago
I've been using a Python prompt or the browser URL bar for simple maths for over a decade. I don't see much added value in doing arithmetic manually, humans really suck at it.
It's easy to miss the value in something you don't do. I do fermi estimates in my head all the time and it would be exhausting to constantly pull out my phone to calculate things, to the point that I would stop attempting it as much as I do.
LLMs are notoriously unreliable at math but even more than that it's about using the appropriate tool for the job. When you Google something, google is smart enough to give you a simple calculator. A simple LLM query like this uses about as much electricity as running a lightbulb for 15 minutes
Humans don't suck at arithmetic.
Anecdata: Most cashiers used to be able to give correct change at checkout very quickly; only a few would type it into the register to have it do the math. Nowadays, with so many people using cards etc., many of them freeze up and struggle with basic change-making.
It's just a matter of keeping in practice and not letting your skills atrophy.
You can’t add 30 minutes in your head?