Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by AlexSW 1116 days ago
Where are you running into problems which require these mathematical techniques? I don't ever recall wishing I'd memorised any of these.

For context, I did a Maths degree, so I'm familiar with them all. I just never find myself needing them.

1 comments

Mainly for back of the napkin calculations to evaluate feasibility of solutions/architectures/algorithms, and to evaluate whether to invest in an opportunity.

Granted, they could all be replaced by computer evaluation, but when someone shows me some numbers and wants a quick opinion, I've found that if I ask if I can take a moment to type it into a device people are more likely to go "that sounds complicated, never mind" but if I only jot down some numbers on paper they are more likely to put weight on the conclusion.