Fun_People Archive
4 Jun
Changes in 5th grade math

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Tue,  4 Jun 96 16:04:58 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: Changes in 5th grade math

Forwarded-by: "R. Dunbar Poor" <r@pia.media.mit.edu>
Forwarded-by: Michele Evard <mevard@media-lab.media.mit.edu>
From: worley@veritools.com (John S. Worley)
Subject: It doesn't add up

    Original observation ... thanks to George, my favorite fifth grader.

    Consider the answer you might receive asking a grade-school child the
question "What is 2 plus 2?" in each of the last five decades:

        in 1956         "4, of course"
        in 1966         "3, but it's the method that's important"
        in 1976         "just a second while I get out my calculator"
        in 1986         "just a second while I launch 'Calculator' on my Mac"
        in 1996         "just a second while I check the addition home page"
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