Down With Fractions!

I hate math. The most difficult thing for me has always been fractions. Adding them, subtracting them, multiplying them, it all is perplexing to me. Now I'm not talking about simple fractions like 1/4 plus 1/4. That's easy. I'm talking about stupid fractions, like 36/24. "Excuse me, may I borrow 1 and 8/65 cups of sugar?"

Now finally, I have found a mathematician who agrees.

Fractions are useless, Professor Dennis DeTurck says in the above linked article. Just use decimals! Now that's more like it. But apparently people have argued against this because what would cooks and carpenters do? I mean how would you double a recipe if you didn't know how to multiply 1/2 cup of sugar by two? And how could you add 11 1/8" to 12 1/8"?

Maybe we could start by getting rid of our antiquated system for measurement and switch to the metric system. I hate the metric system as much as anyone in the U.S., but it is much easier to understand. It's just so damn hard to switch over. I mean how can I figure out how much gas I'm using on trips if I have to grasp kilometers per liter?

So I admit, it sucks having to switch. But the point is, we have to do it. For the sake of all the elementary and middle school math students, we have to switch and get rid of these damn fractions!