Pilots do.
Posted on 02/13/2026 5:21:44 PM PST by DoodleBob
An old newspaper page from 1986 has resurfaced on social media, showing math teachers protesting against the use of calculators in the classroom, until upper grades. Back then, the concerns were not only about students' academic dependency, but many feared that it would replace human skills and take away jobs that depended on manual calculation.
Years later, the history appears to repeat itself. This time, the conversation has shifted from calculators to Artificial Intelligence, as an AI tool can take on tasks like -- writing, designing, teaching, and problem-solving, eventually weakening critical thinking, creativity and overall learning process.
Just like calculators, AI can easily outperform humans in speed and specific tasks. AI works continuously and cuts costs, which makes the fear of becoming irrelevant and replaceable quicker.
History suggests something important
Skills and jobs rarely disappear overnight. Instead, they transform the old skills into new ones. The calculator era showed the adoption for those who decided to endure the struggle. Even prominent leaders agree.
Infosys founder Narayana Murthy does not see AI as a threat, but as a tool that enhances human abilities, calling it the next big frontier in technology. Highlighting its potential, Murthy said AI can help solve complex problems and described the human mind as the “most flexible instrument.”
The 1986 protest reminds us that fear often comes before adaptation. What once appeared like a threat later became a job evolution.
The post on X, by @JonErlichman, quickly went viral, triggering widespread discussion across social media platforms.
One user humorously wrote, “Wait until these teachers hear about ChatGPT. They’re going to need bigger signs.’’
Another user commented, “Seems like the protests worked? I didn't use a calculator until I got to algebra 2.’’
A third user said, “Nothing will ever change? No one will ask this simple question. Why?”
My Dad was an engineer at Bendix and brought home one of the first HP35s in 1972. He let me take it to my HS Physics class. It was a big hit with the teacher. We were using slide rules and CRC tables back then.
Sure, it's as easy as falling off a log.
Bttt
I still have my old Pickett from 1973. Once, around the end of 1984, I had a problem set due in a geophysics class and my TI calculator had just died. The answers only had to be to three significant figures, so I got out the slide rule. At the time, I’d study and do homework in one of the labs that was left open in the evenings, as did several other students. I ended up spending much of the evening showing the younger students how a slide rule worked (I was an old-timer of 29 then).
A month or two later I got my 15C.
I had one in high school chemistry but I didn’t have it figured out then.
My oldest brother showed me how to use his slide rule while he was still in high school. Once I caught on that multiplication was just adding logarithmic distances, it made sense.
When I got to college in 1973, my freshman chemistry class voted on whether to allow calculators on exams. (I voted in favor, despite not having a calculator at the time.) The vote was “no”, so we all used slide rules and log tables. I got my first calculator, a Texas Instruments SR-51 II, a year or so after that.
Yeah, mine came with the deluxe X‑button. Still waiting for the firmware update that makes it do anything.
Correct. Best of all. Mine still work just fine.
As to calc in class, I agree. Try doing a square root by hand. It requires discipline and critical thinking — which is why we send(t) kids to school.
Mine was metal. It broke. I replaced it with a bamboo skewer from Chinese beef‑on‑a‑stick. Worked surprisingly well.
I do. I have a Post Versalog and its book. It takes a while to get back into it.
Somebody needs to be punished. ;-D
Pilots do.
I remember when they were complaining about calculators one of their canards was that we might not have a calculator out in the world. Of course here we are in 2026 there’s a calculator in every computer. And in every phone. Very cool calculators. That can do all the things. Plus of course Google, which you can also use as a calculator. An even cooler calculator, that can do even more of the things. So they got that one wrong.
NASA approved they used it many times
When teachers were teachers not baby sitters.
There was a McDonalds near Torrington, CT back in the 1970's who had a teenage girl who could add up all the items for any order in her head, add sales tax and the final amount - no matter the order size - faster than someone else using the automated cashier machines. People used to come to that McDonalds to order and see her at work, she was amazing.
Now we know who the Richie Rich was 😆 I had to use the classroom cripple calculator - the one with the most important keys inop.
Makes sense.
“Just the basics with big keys. Probably paid hundreds for it.
About 1975.”
I bought a scientific calculator in 1974 for less than $100.
In 1975 I bought a HP programmable scientific calculator with card reader for $195.
“They objected to slide rules before that.”
Not at my school’s. We even had a class on how to use slide rules.
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