My sister taught middle and high school kids math for 45 years. “Why do I need to learn this? I can just use Google!” was a common refrain at the end of her career.
Of course, back in my day, “Why do I need to learn this? I’ll never use it.” was the common refrain.
Then, years later, it was “Why do I need to do these problems by hand? Why can’t I use my calculator?”
Life Lesson Learned: laziness is an immutable human trait.
I agree with you that we all need to know the basics of math.
Whether I am using a calculator or an Excel spreadsheet, I already have the approximate answer in mind before I enter any numbers.
This is how I check to be sure I have entered the correct numbers into the calculator or Excel.
And using such discernment extends beyond math questions to the massive amount of information that is available to us these days.