I think I've actually used the quadratic formula maybe twice outside of an academic math class in which the quiz question was designed to invoke the quadratic formula.
I'm a computer scientist, one of the more mathematical occupations.
I've never been in a life-or-death situation where I thought, "aha, thank God I memorized that formula in high school!". Also, I don't actually remember it anymore, other than "negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four-a-c, all over two-a".
Well huh. I guess I do remember it, but apparently at a verbal-auditory level rather than visual-symbolic. As usual for me.
Still: I've never had occasion to use that recitation I just made.
1. I'm implemented the quadratic formula in software more than twice over the years, I think. In, you know, real programs I was paid money to write.
2. Have you ever been in a life-or-death situation where anything you learned in class in high school was useful to you? "Well, I would have died, but then I remembered that Julius Caesar's last three words were not actually 'Et tu, Brute!' according to Shakespeare..."
I'm a computer scientist, one of the more mathematical occupations.
I've never been in a life-or-death situation where I thought, "aha, thank God I memorized that formula in high school!". Also, I don't actually remember it anymore, other than "negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four-a-c, all over two-a".
Well huh. I guess I do remember it, but apparently at a verbal-auditory level rather than visual-symbolic. As usual for me.
Still: I've never had occasion to use that recitation I just made.