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Ike
12/9/2006, 02:29 AM
I thought I had seen it all when it comes to people doing stupid things regarding math.



but then, theres this. although it's youtube, its all audio, and kinda long...but wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp0HyxQv97Q&eurl=


the guy's blog about it:
http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/
Frozen Sooner
12/9/2006, 02:32 AM
Heh. That doesn't surprise me, actually.
Ike
12/9/2006, 02:35 AM
this audio is just painful.


a supervisor...who doesn't know the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars.
Frozen Sooner
12/9/2006, 02:41 AM
this audio is just painful.


a supervisor...who doesn't know the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars.

You would be horrified at the number of people in the banking industry who can't do simple math.

I was taking a spreadsheet modeling class a couple of years back while I was still working on my MBA. There were three VPs, the CEO, and a board member of my company in the class. I was frankly surprised at how little statistics and algebra they knew-all of them had college degrees and are people I'd generally consider pretty smart.
Ike
12/9/2006, 02:42 AM
customer:"do you recognize that there is a difference between one dollar and one cent?"

rep: "certainly"

customer:"do you recognize that there is difference between half a dollar and half a cent?"

rep: "yes"

customer: "So certainly you see the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents"

rep: "...."

rep: "no. I mean there's no .002 dollars."



These are the people I want to shoot in the head.
Ike
12/9/2006, 02:48 AM
You would be horrified at the number of people in the banking industry who can't do simple math.

I was taking a spreadsheet modeling class a couple of years back while I was still working on my MBA. There were three VPs, the CEO, and a board member of my company in the class. I was frankly surprised at how little statistics and algebra they knew-all of them had college degrees and are people I'd generally consider pretty smart.


see, here's the thing. VP's and CEOs....I don't expect them to know algebra and statistics. They should be smart enough to hire a mathematician for the times that they need to know about those (or someone else that knows those subjects)

However, I DO expect EVERYONE to know the difference between dollars and cents, especially when these people are providing a service that they expect to bill me on.
Vaevictis
12/9/2006, 02:57 AM
Actually, I expect a CEO to know enough algebra to get an HS diploma. And enough statistics so that they at least have a semi-functional bull**** detector when they are handed data.

Deeper stuff, like understanding pdfs, auto/cross-correlation, how to solve a fifth order polynomial, etc... not so much. :)
SCOUT
12/9/2006, 02:57 AM
It was my understanding that there be no math
.
soonerboomer93
12/9/2006, 04:40 AM
He understands where the problem is, he knows they were quoting him in dollars and how the mistake was made. He also made the same mistake multiple times during his phone call. He either needs to explain it better, such as .002 cents is .00002 dollars.

My thought, coming from the phone end is that they offered him 1/2 off. He should take it