Kevin Wampler <wampler+pov### [at] uwashingtonedu> wrote:
> Them:
> -------------------------
> I AM NOT A MATHEMATICIAN BUT I THINK THAT YOUR MATH MAY BE OFF.
> WE HAVE 300 MILLION CITIZENS. IF WE GAVE EVERYONE 1 MILLION DOLLARS 
> WOULDN'T THAT BE 300 MILLION DOLLARS? HOW DID WE GET 22 TRILLION FROM 
> 750 THOUSAND DOLLARS PER HOUSEHOLD?

  I can understand that most people don't have a good grasp of very large
and very small numbers. Heck, even I have hard time grasping the magnitude
of something like "10^20 kilometers". From an astronomical point of view,
is that a very large distance or a very small distance? How large is it?

  However, some people seem to get completely lost with even the simplest
of equations when numbers get out of the 0.01 - 10^6 boundaries. It seems
that they can more or less grasp concept of that magnitude, but immediately
when numbers get out of that range, they are completely lost, and units and
magnitudes get hopelessly mixed.

  I find it curious how those people at Verizon don't seem to have a
problem in understanding the concept of (and difference between), for
example, 0.1 dollars and 0.1 cents, but when they see "amount of money
per unit equals 0.001" they immediately lose all grasp of the concept
of *units*, and only seem to see that *number* alone, without the context
of the unit. "There's no difference between 0.001 dollars and 0.001 cents.
They are the same number." Like the unit stopped mattering when we go out
of the safe boundaries.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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