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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
if there were no computers
that means there would be no calculators either
and that means we would all still be using [shutter] gasp! SLIDE RULES!
Agggghhhhhh!!!!
how did people live without square-root buttons?
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How did they live without square root buttons? Going back to middle school algebra, I think we used factor trees, which could get us down to all the whole numbered roots of any number we chose.
If you think about it, if we didn't have calculators today, we'd be practicing the many hand methods of calculating that brought us to the technological level we are at today, for it had to start by hand. At the same time, we'd in theory have a better grasp of what we are doing with the numbers we manipulate.
Today, it turns out we have these calculators which we can freely use and without much thought punch in a few numbers, operators, etc. and get an answer, and we believe it. We take this granted unfortunately.
So to answer the question at hand, again, I think I'd be doing hand calculations for something.