[thfuran]

>Similarly if I had decided to do something maths heavy at uni I would be expected to be able to do some pretty complex maths without a calculator first, even if I don't need to do that all the time

I got an engineering degree and don't remember ever being required to do math without a calculator. Of course, some things are easier if you don't need to bust out a calculator for everything.

[helboi4]

I order to get in to the engineering degree though you would have had to do maths exams in school that required you to have proficiency in doing maths without a calculator that the average person does not have and will never need. I did not do an engineering degree but I did do a higher level maths class in school. I failed 2/3 of the exams but that still means I have learnt to do calculator free maths to a higher level than the vast majority of the population has ever even considered. And they don't need to. Probably doesn't impact their lives at all. That doesn't mean that there aren't some people who should really should learn to do that stuff. There's a reason I abandoned the idea of Physics or similar disciplines as a university degree choice - because I did not have the maths foundation to build on. Any arts and humanities degree, if not any degree really needs a foundation of writing skills in the same way.