I have a lot of strange hobbies and one of them is finding horrible headlines and posting them into groups of other like-minded people for us all to laugh at. One was recently posted that looks legitimate but I think it might be a fake. I hope that it is or that it was intentionally written ironically.
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That looks legitimate but with today's AI and PS skills, it could be easily faked, the person didn't specify where they got it from so I doubt that this made it past an editor but you never know. Math skills have diminished over the years where everyone has a calculator in their pocket at all times. Given the fact that they state "maths" instead of "math" this is likely from the UK if it is real at all. This next story though, unfortunately is very true.
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In the 80's A&W attempted to compete with McDonalds by offering a 1/3 pound burger to compete with the McDonalds "quarter pounder." Anyone with elementary school level math skills knows that 1/3 is larger than 1/4 but the burger flopped as an offering even though it was cheaper than the McDonalds smaller burger. When they asked the populace why that is many responded that it was because 1/4 is bigger than 1/3.
I find this hard to believe but then again, I choose to hang out with people that aren't ignoramuses. How it is that these people managed to make it to adult age and presumably have jobs is a wonder to the education system and suggests that people who shouldn't have passed 4th grade math were pushed through the system.
I understand if you don't remember all of your trigonometry stuff because not very many people use that sort of thing but fractions are a basic part of everyday life so this is inexcusable.
While this was the 80's we live in a far more idiotic time today then we did back then. Smartphones have made us all stupider even when it comes to really simple things. The other day a friend of mine and I were splitting a bill and we had the same thing and I thought my friend was messing with me when he pulled out his phone to split a bill that was $12.50 in half. "Seriously? You can't do that in your head?" Is what I said.
I think this might be part of the reason why quiz shows that require actual intellect aren't nearly as popular as they used to be but the Kardashians can release any old terrible show and it instantly becomes one of the most watched shows on television.
I think we could all do ourselves a favor by not using our smartphones to solve really small things that happen in our life for just a week or so. Our brains have become so dumbed down by having a computer in our pockets at all times that people, like my friend at the restaurant the other day, don't even bother to try to use it in very simple situations.
