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We all know confidently incorrect people. People displaying dunning-kruger. The majority of those people have low education and without someone giving them objectively true feedback on their opinions through their developmental years, they start to believe everything they think is true even without evidence.

Memorizing facts, dates, and formulas aren't what necessarily makes someone intelligent. It's the ability to second guess yourself and have an appropriate amount of confidence relative to your knowledge that is a sign of intelligence.

I could be wrong though.

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[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 78 points 1 year ago

Memorizing data doesn't make one smarter... but learning concepts absolutely does.

The classic, "we'll never need this in adult life" is math like Pythagoras' theorem, or factoring binomial equations (remember FOIL?). We don't learn that math because it's practical for adult life... we learn that math so that grown ass adults don't think someone using algebra is performing black magic.

Seems silly... but it's just like how many folks never learned past middle school biology and now think XX&XY are the only chromosomal possibilities.

[-] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 7 points 1 year ago

remember FOIL?

A lot of adults don't, then proceed to argue about order of operations, having forgotten that Brackets have to be all expanded out before doing anything else at all.

We don’t learn that math because it’s practical for adult life

Yes we do. I use Maths every day, quite separate to the fact I teach it.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean Pythagoras is useful but what are you foiling?(garden fertilizer?) Or are you misconstruing "that math" for "all math"?

[-] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 0 points 1 year ago

Or are you misconstruing “that math” for “all math”?

I wasn't even commenting on that, hence why I quoted "remember FOIL?" and not the rest.

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this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
523 points (97.1% liked)

Showerthoughts

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