Is RPN still relevant?

[brickviking]

(10-07-2015 08:13 PM)John Colvin Wrote:  " I can't calculate 26+17 in one go either" - Why not?

Often when I come across stuff like this, I (in my mind) compare the second digit to the nearest factor of ten larger and "keep" note of the difference. Then I add the factor, and take off the difference.

Code:


26 + 17:
26 + 20 (20 - 17 = 3) = 46-3=43

271+48:
271 + 50 (50 - 48 = 2) = 321 - 2 = 319

That's just in my memory, and I've got what I now consider grade school education up to about Year 11 which I've forgotten a good deal of. Multiplication is a bit more difficult, and division's even worse unless I have pen and paper or calculator. Amazingly, I'm still more competent than most of the people I meet for really simple "this is how much I need to pay you, and this is how much change I get from $30" stuff. Most of our population would be rather lost if the power went down, and they had no calculator available. Just don't ask me to binary-add with my fingers and toes.

(Post 40)