In message en.co.uk,
Roderick Stewart writes:
In article , Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
and it was still
pounds, shillings, pence and no one could make change

In the days of lsd, the average person could do rudimentary mental
arithmetic. These days most need a calculator, even although a base 10
system makes things simpler.

Yes, people used to be taught things like spelling and multiplication
tables in school. I used to get my pocket money in shillings and pence,
occasionally shops would give change that would include farthings, and I
don't recall having any problems with this.

It was a world in which spellcheckers and calculators hadn't been
invented yet, and in their spare time, brainrotting electronic gadgets
like MP3 players and video game consoles not having been invented yet,
people would sometimes read books. We grew up in it and got used to it.

Rod.

Aw, c'mon, Rod - although there are _some_ advantages in having these
old skills, it is as unrealistic to consider them as essential now that
we have things which do them for us as the skill of making our own
clothes, copperplate handwriting, and so on. (_All_ of these are useful,
just not as essential as they once were.) As for mp3 players and video
consoles being brainrotting, I don't think they are any more so than
gramophones, playing cards, dominoes, rallies, ... (-:

As for books, there may be some evidence that the recent rise of the
kindle and its friends has _increased_ reading. (Whether of the sort of
books you'd approve of, of course ... but it was ever thus, even when
dead trees ruled the roost.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The reason for the oil shortage: nobody remembered to check the oil levels. Our
oil is located in the North Sea but our dip-sticks are located in Westminster.
(or Texas and Washington etc. - adjust as necessary!)