This kind of problem falls under “communicating badly and acting smug when misunderstood”.
No it doesn't. It falls under adults forgetting the rules of Maths.
Use parenthesis and the problem goes away
There is no problem, other than adults who have forgotten the rules.
You might be smart
Smart-arse more like. A serial troll who doesn't actually know what they're talking about.
And that’s why people don’t write equations like that
Says someone who clearly hasn't looked in any Maths textbooks
If you wrote 6 + 4 / 2 in a paper you’d get reviewers complaining that it’s ambiguous
Only if their Maths was very poor. #MathsIsNeverAmbiguous
Working mathematicians never came up with PEMDAS
Yes they did.
which disambiguates it without parenthesis
It was never ambiguous to begin with.
Noone else does it that way
Says someone who has never looked in a non-U.S. Maths textbooks - BIDMAS, BODMAS, BEDMAS, all textbooks have one variation or another.
6 + 4 / 2 is 8 instead of 5?
The fundamental property of Maths that you have to solve binary operators before unary operators or you end up with wrong answers.
Maths is not about memorisation
It is for ROTE learners.
You are not supposed to remember that the area of a triangle is a * h / 2
Yes you are. A lot of students get the wrong answer when they forget the half.
you’re supposed to understand why it’s the case
Constructivist learners can do so, ROTE learners it doesn't matter. As long as they all know how to do Maths it doesn't matter if they understand it or not.
You’re supposed to be able to show that any triangle that can possibly exist is half the area of the rectangle it’s stuck in
No they're not.
If you’ve understood that once, there is no reason to remember anything because you can derive the formula at a moment’s notice.
And if you haven't understood it then there is a reason to remember it.
you can derive the formula at a moment’s notice
Students aren't expected to be able to do that.
All maths can be understood and derived like that
It can be by Constructivist learners, not ROTE learners.
The names of the colours, their ordering, the names of the planets and how they’re ordered, they’re arbitrary
No they're not. Colours are in spectrum order, the planets are in order from the sun.
Maths doesn’t, instead it dies when you apply memorisation
A very substantial chunk of the population does just fine with having memorised Maths.
What’s lazy about learning PEMDAS?
Nothing. Only people who don't know what they're talking about say that.
they aren’t teaching math.
Yes we are. Adults forgetting it is another matter altogether.
There’s no such thing as “order of operations” in math
Yes there is! 😂
Do you think I’m wrong?
No, I know you're wrong.
If so, why?
If you don't solve binary operators before unary operators you get wrong answers. 2+3x4=14, not 20. 3x4=3+3+3+3 by definition
A division is defined as a multiplication
No it isn't. Multiplication is defined as repeated addition. Division isn't repeated subtraction. They just happen to have opposite effects if you treat the quotient as being the result of dividing.
I like the version where these problems are made purposefully ambiguous
None of them are ambiguous. They all have only 1 correct answer, just like this one only has 1 correct answer. They all test if people remember the order of operations rules. Those who got it wrong, don't.
Thanks for the effort!
You're welcome.
Just proves, never too late to learn :-)
10 years earlier than that actually. Johnny Rotten, Billy Idol, etc. The U.S. came late to the party and started using their own definition.