> the conflation of "understanding math" and "being able to do simple arithmetic" is something of a pet peeve
Agreed. I'm horrible at simple arithmetic -- I've just never gotten the knack for it, despite clear life benefits to being good at it. But I'm decent at math-with-letters.
If I'm in a social setting and someone wants me to do the arithmetic on something, I'll happily say "I can't do math" because it makes more sense than saying the above. I bet there are others like me out there.
Agreed. I'm horrible at simple arithmetic -- I've just never gotten the knack for it, despite clear life benefits to being good at it. But I'm decent at math-with-letters.
If I'm in a social setting and someone wants me to do the arithmetic on something, I'll happily say "I can't do math" because it makes more sense than saying the above. I bet there are others like me out there.