Kenneth Chang

We put people on the moon with PEMDAS. We created artificial intelligence with PEMDAS. It’s more important that anyone seems to understand.

“We go to the moon not because it is easy but because we have been drilled in PEMDAS! We will do this and all the other things like 8 ÷ 2(2+2) = ?”

Never said it was a pretty math problem, or that any professional should ever write an expression like that. Just that there is still only one solution, when written in one line like it is. No matter how confused people are about it.

If it’s pointless and useless, the answer to a “gotcha” question does not matter. You have your own blind assumptions, namely that all that matters is how it translates into a single line of computer code.

You know, is it customary now in @nytscience to open an article talking about common ignorance and misconceptions, and besides NOT informing or clarifying what those are, to actively insult people for their interest? Mr. Chang has tweeted and snarked a lot and said nothing.

Because there are tons of conventions I follow for written language whether it's spelling, grammar, or math, that I totally admit I know nothing about WHY they are that way. Mr. Chang has repeatedly derided us for not knowing WHY and not done anything to explain WHY.

For gods' sake man, what the fuck is the job of science reporter?

I try to tell people when something is dumb and meaningless, which in this case, it is. Literally every mathematician I've talked to has said some variation of that.