I was once researching lessons for my children.

I was also interviewing family members, and their unanimous opinion was

"The best lesson I ever learned was the 'abacus'"

As I wrote here, the purpose of an abacus class is to "create a calculator in your mind" -- and the only input is "visual".

Just by looking at the numbers, the results of the calculations come to mind, so it's easy.

In other words, you can use your brain only for "how to solve the problem".

As I was writing, I realized,

"Isn't this the same thing that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is promoting, 'programming-free, programming-oriented education'?"

Needless to say, the purpose of mathematics is not to calculate, nor is it to memorize formulas.

It is "mathematical/mathematical thinking"(*).

(*) A typical example of this is "Fermi Estimation".

When you think about it, the abacus allows you to "slip through the cracks" and "cheat" in the "calculation" process

I think it's a shame that people don't know much about that.

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For a while, a boy claimed "I can use Google to know the meaning of kanji", "I'll use a calculator", and "There is no need to study at school". Then the boy's post/video went viral.

I have not researched this, so I will not comment on it.

However, I think this is a social experiment with himself as the subject, so I would like to wait and see the results.

However, the problem is how to estimate this hypothesis: "I can use Google to know the meaning of kanji", "I'll use a calculator", and "There is no need to study at school".

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Basically.

(1) Socially successful (businessman, politician?)

(2) Financially successful (Wealthier than others)

(3) Although not as good as (1) and (2) above, possibility to lead a social life similar to that of so-called school-educated people (even).

(4) Other than (1) to (3) above

I think they can be classified into these four categories.

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I believe that the above (1) to (3) will continue to be reported in the media so that we can know the results of the verification easily.

On the other hand, in the case of (4) above, the hypothesis test would be rejected, or in other words, "failed," but I am afraid that there are very few people who would report the results of failure themselves.

So, if that content of his opinions is no longer in the public eye, and enough time has passed, I will result

"His hypothesis of "I can use Google to know the meaning of kanji", "I'll use a calculator", and "There is no need to study at school" was rejected ("failed")"

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Based on my above "Abacus is the strongest", his hypothesis that "you can use a calculator for calculation" should not be valid.

Therefore, his hypothesis and my hypothesis are in conflict.

But as for me, I don't care what the outcome is.

"His hypothesis of "I can use Google to know the meaning of kanji", "I'll use a calculator", and "There is no need to study at school" will be successful, this should be a major event that will shake the very foundations of the current school education system.

And the more children who participate in this experiment, the more data there will be and the more objective it will be.

By all means, please do your best to prove the "no school necessary" theory.

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Incidentally, the two children of the Ebata family have already enrolled (and graduated) from college and are not scheduled to participate as test subjects.

In other words, whether this social experiment succeeds or fails, I will not be disadvantaged.

In short, it is

"Watching from on high."

To be honest, it really doesn't matter to me which way this hypothesis turns out.