To think that 3 adults should be able to work out 17 divided by 3 without the need for a calculator?

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I run a local board games group.

Behind me three grown men were trying to work out this very difficult sum wondering what the answer was, one of them said they would get their phone out to us the calculator at which point I interjected and told them the answer.

These men are 25+!

Id expect a 6 year old to be able to do this... In their head!

"There is no real value in being good at performing simple calculations which can be done with a calculator."

You're totally right. I mean:

Adding up the value of items in your head in a shop if you're on a budget, or counting your change to make sure it's right, or splitting a bill, or working out a 10% discount, or figuring out how much you need to leave in the bank every month to cover bills, or working out how much flooring you need for a room, or working out how much ingredients you need to make double of a recipe, or measuring a bed to make sure it fits in a room, or how much it's going to cost to hire a car for 3 days...........useless, right? Long live calculators!

If you're saying that, then there's really no value to learning to write, is there? I mean when you can type. What's the point.

For all the people who say they can't work it out, could you work out 15 divided by 3, or 10 divided by 2?Not being goady just curious.

Also for those of you who have managed to do many exams, how do you work out how much time you have left per question, as that is simple division?

Also if you have a children's party or something similar, how do you work out e.g. how many pizzas, fish fingers you need to ensure you will have enough per child? All similar calculations to the one in the OP.

I wonder if for some people it is like the situation someone mentioned above in Brazil where children didn't think they could do maths but they could. So in everyday situations you do use multiplication/division without really thinking about it, but if someone said what is 17 divided by 3 you just freeze and think I can't do that.

That's a good point Ineed.

OK, some adults struggle with numeracy for whatever reason. But what's the more likely scenario - three thickos who can't do this most basic sum and resorting to a calculator, or three people with a genuine learning difficulty who all happen to be together, in the same club, at the same time, all coming together to try to work it out.
What a vile commrnt.
Does not mean people are thick.
I left school and college with very high grades, bar maths.
I can do long division on paper, but not in my heAd. I wouldnt be able to work out the remainder mentally.
It's never held me back in life

17 divided by 3 is not long division.

AlansLeftMoob

Actually that is exactly what I'm saying, there really is no need to be able to perform any of those calculations mentally. You need to know the algorithms behind it but you don't need to actually perform the calculation itself!

These days it's more valuable to learn how to make a spreadsheet that calculates your monthly budget, or even to be able to actually programme your own computer or mobile application that does the sums for you, than it is to be able to sit and work it out in your head or on paper. And being able to work sums out in your head is not a prerequisite to being good at maths, computer science, economics etc.

There is every need! There is no point being able to make a spreadsheet that calculates your monthly budget if you don't understand what change you are going to get! And you can't do the monthly spreadsheet if you can't tell if you've made a mistake and all of your sums are wrong.

Please stop pretending that the very very basics of numeracy are not important. It couldn't be less helpful.

These days it's more valuable to learn how to make a spreadsheet that calculates your monthly budget, or even to be able to actually programme your own computer or mobile application that does the sums for you, than it is to be able to sit and work it out in your head or on paper

I'd argue that both skills are important.

I think it's really helpful to know if your answer on the spreadsheet makes sense. And mental maths skills really help.

This is interesting. From Yes Prime Minister

I'd be surprised they couldn't at a board games group, given how much time is spent divvying out counters and cards. On the other hand, if it was after 10 pm then the amount of alcohol consumed might have had an effect.

As pp have said, these skills get rusty if not used - back when I got my gap year placement, jobs were allocated by how well you did in a test that was mainly long multiplication and division. Everyone who had done A-level maths, especially double maths, did really badly. The rest of us were still used to arithmetic on paper and thus got the more mathematical jobs, which was daft.

FFS 17/3 and people are slating op for being surprised they couldn't do it.

Totally ridiculous.