Declining math skills make us dumber consumers: Agree?

by Heisenberg Posted 2012/07/10 17:42:41

Related Topics: Money, Shopping, Business, 2012, USA, Brain, Dumber, Math

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56 votes
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	Agree	49 votes	88%
	Disagree	7 votes	13%

As basic mathematics skills decline in the USA, salesmen take advantage of the ignorance to make more money.

THEATLANTIC.COM reports:
This is your brain on shopping, and it's not very smart

+11

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☆ElenaDiamond☆ 2012/07/10 17:58:50

Agree

+5
That is really pathetic. That is what happens when you allow yourself to become complacent, lazy and dumb.
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More polls by Heisenberg

classic 2012/07/11 18:15:22

Agree

+1
I get a laugh at the grocery store,, when the cashier gets the final item up and tells me how much, I hand them the money and put my hand over the gizmo that tells them how much change to give me,,,, The say "take your hand away so I can see how much change you get" I tell them no, you figure it out... LOL
Then I ask them if they take Federal reserve notes as payment., They say no.. so I ask what do I pay you with, they say , Money...

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Alex tuck 2012/07/11 07:17:43

Agree

+1
Japan and china have us beat by a land slide! good thing we have lots of big shine missles and guns :p

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S. Gompers 2012/07/11 06:18:51

Agree

+1
That and logic, I want that shirt.

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Bibliophilic 2012/07/11 01:28:18

Disagree

+1
No, but declining 'logic skills' do.

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lurch 2012/07/10 22:14:00

Disagree

+1
It's the label 'SUCKER' across the forehead. Nearly every sales person I've faced has tried to upsell crap that I don't need, and I often have to decline twice. Don't buy crap, and don't pay more than you have to.

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UberAwesomeness 2012/07/10 21:37:36

Disagree

+1
I feel stupid now. :( But I'm okay with math is just that when I have to take a test I'm stupid. The ONLY subject I need to study hard for I've always had a struggle with math. Numbers anren't my thing but words are :(

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bags the Indigenous Guru 2012/07/10 20:55:42

Agree

+1
And not just consumers......dumber period. In a scientifically ruled world, lack of math skills can stop you dead in the water from ever getting anywhere in life.

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lolitalovely 2012/07/10 20:48:07

Disagree

+1
Agree and disagree. My friend is not good at math at all, (I had to help her answer the simple math problems on her job application.) But she's very good about budgeting. Her phone is her calculator. Not that much math skill is involved in unit price, discounts, and balancing a budget. It's one step addition, multiplication, and division for the most part. laziness is making us dumber consumers, in my opinion.

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Don Leuty 2012/07/10 20:42:17

Agree

+1
Stated problems are the sword of Damocles to most of today's high school graduates. Many seem to struggle to make change with the help of a smart register.

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Ninjaman 2012/07/10 19:49:31

Disagree

+1
if they are looking at the new math, no... if they are talking the old math that was perfectly fine when i was in school, then yes, it makes us less intelligent.

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Heisenberg 2012/07/10 19:44:10

Agree

+2
This is why they need to start teaching math and science more in schools.

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Beat Ma... to Heisenberg 2012/07/10 20:38:03

+2
You can thank Bush and NCLB for killing that.

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Heisenberg to Beat Ma... 2012/07/10 20:49:32

+1
You bet we can. Unfortunately, they'll try to pin that one on Obama, too.

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Fef 2012/07/10 19:07:51

Agree

+2
Consumers don't know if two coupons for compounding 10% off gives them a better deal than a single 20% off coupon.

Also, consumers without math skills cannot figure out if they overspent this month.

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Mr.Steve 2012/07/10 19:07:05
Beat Ma... to Mr.Steve 2012/07/10 20:39:26

+2
Nobody teaches it anymore. Employees are told to give the amount shown on the register, no exceptions.

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Mr.Steve to Beat Ma... 2012/07/11 10:06:08
jackolantyrn356 2012/07/10 18:53:11

Agree

+1
stupid

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princess 2012/07/10 18:50:32

Agree

+1
Absolutely....it's tragic!!

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Maddog 2012/07/10 18:46:59

Agree

+1
I can't speak on the subject of math skills, but there is definitely a decline in verbal skills, as evidenced by some of the posts on SodaHead!

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frank 2012/07/10 18:38:06

Agree

+1
I agree 100% that American is getting dumber without math skills; I can see it every day. If you want to have fun, buy something and then give them the exact number of pennies and see what happens?

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kir 2012/07/10 18:26:52

Agree

+2
Math is incredibly important, even if people don't seem to think so anymore, but far more importantly are the skills to think independently, which would allow a person to pick up any and all subjects. Unfortunately we are trained by the corrupt education system to simply obey the media.

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Charles E 2012/07/10 18:16:18

Agree

+2
Same item, 30% off or second item half off.
A majority of shoppers will buy two to save 25%.

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☆ElenaDiamond☆ 2012/07/10 17:58:50

Agree

+5
That is really pathetic. That is what happens when you allow yourself to become complacent, lazy and dumb.

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tommyg - POTL- PWCM-JLA 2012/07/10 17:55:13

Agree

+1
Without a doubt.

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firelooker 2012/07/10 17:52:56

Agree

+3
If you can't do the math you'll get taken to the cleaners everytime. It's like I tried to teach my kids when pricing something, always round up to the next higher number. If the price marked is 17.49 - figure 18 bucks not 17.

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RoyDMercer - IFOTFD 2012/07/10 17:50:45

Agree

+2
most see Buy 1 Get 1 Free and don't realize they have jacked up the price of one item to offset the freebie. I used to get funny looks for carrying my notepad and pencil into the store and writing down the prices a week before they went on the Buy 1 Get 1 deal.

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firelooker to RoyDMer... 2012/07/10 17:55:57

+3
You have to figure the price of the single item first, buy one get one free isn't always the best buy. My wife & I usually compare prices of brand name items against generic to see whih is the better buy. Generic is not always cheaper.

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RoyDMer... to firelooker 2012/07/10 18:07:02

+1
yeah, I have me a little black book for groceries, especially items I buy often.

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none 2012/07/10 17:45:50

Agree

+3
People can't do simple math in their heads any more and if it wasn't for cash registers telling clerks what to give back for change most of them would be completely lost.

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firelooker to none 2012/07/10 17:57:43

+3
True, but that's why I keep pen & paper handy, if I can't figure it out in my head(cause it gets lost in the cob webs) I'll figure it out on paper.

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none to firelooker 2012/07/10 18:07:46

+1
Lots of Americans would still be lost with the paper and pencil without the help of a calculator.

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firelooker to none 2012/07/10 18:25:27

+2
True, I had to use one for Algebra in college but haven't used one since. I prefer to keep my brain sharp.

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none to firelooker 2012/07/10 18:26:24

+1
Brain exercises are a good thing, keep the gears lubricated.

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firelooker to none 2012/07/10 18:45:09

+2
Since I do a lot of carpenter and home repair type work I'm constantly taxing my brain. Just did a bathroom remodel where I replaced the tub & shower w/ just a shower relocated the shower to the opposite side of the room so I had to figure out what all I needed as far as plumbing stuff. I had never actually messed w/ plumbing below the floor b4 so it was a new experience.

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none to firelooker 2012/07/10 19:20:23

+1
Quite the job to take on with no plumbing experience.

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firelooker to none 2012/07/10 19:34:04

+1
Oh I have experience just not w/ new install, I've done lot's of repairs in the past but never installing new stuff under the floor. For instance where to install the new p trap, but I figured it out. Then I ran into problems w/ the new plumbing connections all leaking until I learned about connections called Shark Bite, really simple you just plug the two pipes together in the copper fitting and OILA! no more leaks.

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UberAwe... to firelooker 2012/07/10 21:41:55

+1
For my generation YOU HAVE TO use calculators, or you fail. NO JOKE. Sad. Some teachers teach other great methods, however the ones I've had suck. I hate math teachers :(

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handeman 2012/07/10 17:44:34

Disagree

+2
TV makes us dumber

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tommyg ... to handeman 2012/07/10 17:54:42

+1
Agreed.

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