A SECRET THAT NO ONE WILL EVER TELL YOU; ARITHMETIC IS PART OF MATHEMATICS.

Arithmetic, meaning the ability to perform multiplication, subtraction, etc. is just a tiny, though basic branch of mathematics. It is an essential skill for a regular civilized person to perform operations with small numbers, just like reading, writing, getting dressed and so forth. So basic arithmetic is a must for anyone. That doesn’t mean anyone knows math.The following points will clarify my idea here.

      1. If you manage to perform calculations from moderate to difficult level in your head without resorting to a calculator, good for you. But stop bragging about your overdeveloped skill. You just mastered arithmetic. It may save you from dishonest mercenaries when you buy stuff with cash and accept change from them. But this is where it ends. Easier to delegate the work to the calculator. It’s 21^st century (although arithmetic is the only thing I personally allow calculators to do. I don’t trust any simple piece of electronics developed for mentally lazy students to solve equations for me; because  equations math are harder than simple computations in arithmetic.

      2. Don’t ask us, mathematically educated people, to calculate something for you, then see us take time (even longer than for an average person), and claim you beat us to it. Next time we’ll give you a theorem to prove. Who’s laughing now? We don’t need to rely on arithmetic so much in our work; we have the tools at hand. Logic is our bread. Even the fastest computers are dumber than us. And the slowest computers are faster than any person with extraordinary arithmetic skill.

Oh, and my favorite (although rare), 3. When you hear what kind of education we got, don’t ask us to let you guess our current job. Because assuming that we only work as middle school teachers is well similar to how you assume a man with long beards is necessarily a gangster. “Then who do you work?” you may ask. Well, anyone, as long as the profession is dominated by that word I mentioned in 2. The one that starts with L. Software developers, bank analysts, consultants, scientists, engineers, financial and/or business advisers, probably even lawyers (a friend of mine, working as a lawyer, once said I had all the necessary traits of a good lawyer, I just lacked diploma and raw knowledge of law ). “Any mathematician can become an economist, but not any economist can become a mathematician” (a quote by my English teacher). All it takes is additional researching in the field we happen to work in. And we’re good at that.