Math has never been my best subject. I've known that ever since I struggled with comprehending one-digit addition and subtraction back in 1st Grade. More recently, being in Algebra II has brought my math learning career to an all-new low. I'm really meant to write, not to do long division or solve for x.
I rest assured that no one will stop and quiz me on my times tables, but I want to improve my math skills. I bought Brain Age yesterday. According to the (maybe) reliable and scientifically-proven research presented in the instruction booklet, the folks who developed the game made the groundbreaking connection between doing mental exercises and improving brain health. It's nothing new, but it still was a challenge. The game stampeded me with simple math problems, but made them much harder because the goal was to solve them as quickly as possible.
Playing Brain Age made me think about the dark side of calculators. They are convenient, but are they bad for someone in the long run? Even though they are useful in higher level math, does that make them good for you? Playing Brain Age reminded me of how difficult calculator-free elementary school math was (and, apparently, still is) for me. The fact that I couldn't easily and quickly solve those problems made me feel pathetic. I hope that doing the exercises will help me improve, along with continuing to solve puzzles. It will probably make my math skills better...but since machines that do the work for me are so common, does this really even matter? Will people eventually stop learning mental math?
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