Math Skills?

I've often worried at peoples' dependence on calculators and other technology. They can't write without a spell checker. They can't do math without a calculator. They can't communicate without using l33t-speak or some other form of abbreviation. People have lost the ability to think for themselves. Every problem has become so easy to solve with the push of a few buttons that we've forgotten how to work it out on our own!

We're taught math in school, but as soon as our teachers are convinced that we are able to apply the bare minimum of basic arithmetic skills, we are handed calculators. We move on to bigger and better things and let the calculator worry about the details. We can solve quadratic systems, but who knows how to work out a square root unaided?! I've met folks who can't even remember how to do long division, it's been so long since they've even attempted math without a calculator. They don't even know where to begin unless it's to start punching in numbers on their cell phone calculator!

I ran into a frightening example yesterday when I was asked, in the absence of a calculator, to crunch some numbers.
"What's 7 plus 9?" she asks me.
"Seven plus nine?" I look at her quizzically, "Sixteen."
She thinks about this for a minute, then looks to me again, "And what's 22 minus 16?"
"Six... Are you testing me?"
"No, I'm just trying to work something out."
I was dumbfounded!
This is a girl who has a post-secondary education. This is a girl who's been awarded scholarships. She is not stupid! I have no doubt that, had she taken a minute to think about it, she could have worked out those math problems without issue. The problem is that everyone is so used to having a quick, easy answer provided, without thought or effort. Still, I was startled at being asked to work out such a simple problem.

It makes me wonder where we're headed. If things are this bad now, where will we be a few years down the road? Will we have become totally helpless without our calculators and various other electronic gadgets? I shudder to think!