[robot_no_421]

It's way, way more than just a tool that improves thought. It's a necessary tool to organize your life. How can you even budget or use a credit card responsibly if you don't know algebra? You need algebra to know how long a paycheck can last you.

My dad didn't graduate high school and even he knew enough algebra to work out how much money he needed a month for cigarettes (until he eventually quit once he really thought about the numbers).

[kazinator]

That's a good question. Historic human societies without algebra somehow had working bean counting.

Using a credit card isn't very abstract.

You only have to use the concrete specific values in your situation, and not solve some generality.

Moreover, I don't think I had to ever square anything, let alone, cube, when reckoning over credit card transactions. Or find the roots of a polynomial, or do anything with polynomials.

I'm not saying that the intuitions gained from algebra are not relevant, mind you.

[robot_no_421]

> Using a credit card isn't very abstract.

To use a credit card responsibly you need to understand the concept of exponential growth, or you might accidentally turn a manageable $500 debt into a burdensome $5000 debt. Same goes for understanding good debt (mortgages) vs bad debt.

It might not be solving a polynomial per se, but I don't see how you get to understanding exponential equations without at least understanding algebra.

[taeric]

There is understanding the concept of exponential growth, and there is being able to manage it. They are two skills. Where management is helped more by having resources than it is by understanding it.

[robot_no_421]

>Where management is helped more by having resources than it is by understanding it.

There are many examples of lottery winners, athletes, and celebrities who came across considerable resources yet still went broke because they didn't understand how to manage it or the concept of exponential growth.

A fool and his money are easily parted, as the saying goes. People who don't have financial literacy will lose their money over and over again regardless of how much you give them.

[taeric]

There are, but there are also plenty of examples of lottery winners, athletes, and celebrities that came across considerable resources and then lived quite well on said resources. Probably more of those, but the stories are far less dramatic.

You are also picking a category of people that come across enough resources that make them a target to plenty of others. Such that it is almost an adversarial game, at that point.

[robot_no_421]

>Probably more of those, but the stories are far less dramatic.

Evidence shows that having an excess of resources actually leads to more financial irresponsibly, not less. Or as the Illustrious Notorious B.I.G. eloquently put it: "mo money, mo problems":

"The CFP Board of Standards says nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy, and lottery winners are more likely to declare bankruptcy within three to five years than the average American."

https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-th....

[BenjiWiebe]

Not entirely true. I have multiple credit cards and use them for everything, yet I've never ran into exponential growth.

I don't spend money I don't have.

It's really simple math this way.

[robot_no_421]

I'd argue that you're not really using the credit on your credit card as a credit card. You're using it as a charge card.

Exponential growth is a fundamental concept of financial literacy. If you want to invest in the stock market or plan your 401k it helps to understand exponential growth. The reason why it's impossible to get rich off a wage is because of the difference between exponential vs linear growth.

>I don't spend money I don't have.

You've never taken out a mortgage or opened a margin account? Plenty of responsible people make money by spending money they don't have every day.

[BenjiWiebe]

Sorry, yes. I do spend money I don't have, just not in the context of credit cards, as they have terrible interest rates. I go to the banker to get a loan.

[recursive]

I don't think you really need abstract representations to do basic budgeting. Adding and subtracting concrete quantities can get you pretty far.

[kazinator]

When it comes to spending money on credit, you need an intuition for running sums. This lets you maintain an estimate in your head tracking how much you charged on the card.

People without that intuition are surprised at how fast the little charges added up to an unexpectedly large sum.

But I only spent a hundred here or there; how did it blow past $4700?

[gsinclair]

> But I only spent a hundred here or there; how did it blow past $4700?

This is basic human frailty and completely orthogonal to mathematical ability.

[Loocid]

I'm a big proponent for math education but I don't think budgeting or dealing with credit cards requires anything past basic arithmetic.