Order of Operations Explained

Since I've been home all day because of severe weather, I decided to write now instead of at 7 p.m., my usual writing time. If I had been at work today I would be getting home about now, and I've already had a brainstorm I'd like to share with you. I joined this impressionist art group on Facebook and there was a math problem on there, which should have been a red flag right off the bat. A few were rightly responding, "What's this got to do with art?" There was this problem: 50 + 50 -25 x 0 +2 + 2= See, I've even memorized it by now. There are at least three answers you can get by solving it different ways. Also, the calculator will get the same answer you get if you use the mighty "order of operations." Abbreviated as PEMDAS, it means Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. First time I did it left to right--the wrong way, by the way. If you do it that way you will get the answer of 4 because 50 plus 50=100, minus 25= 75 times zero = zero plus 2 plus 2= 4. Right? Another answer someone got and I got once was 50 plus 50 minus 25 (times “nothing?”) plus 4 = 79...not sure how I got that, but at least one other person got that too, maybe by ignoring the zero or equating it as "nothing.” The answer, using order of operations is: 50 + 50 times zero because multiplication comes before addition and subtraction. It might have helped to have parentheses somewhere, like maybe 50 + 50 + (25 x 0) + 2 + 2 =? But if you do the multiplication first, you're left with 50 + 50 + 2 + 2 = 104 which is the correct answer. There seemed to be no answer key and no moderator on this post, which to me was frustrating, but I concluded that 104 was the correct answer and was fascinated by the fact that the calculator knows the order of operations! If you add those numbers up and multiply and divide logically, that is, from left to right, you come up with 4 but the calculator knows the correct answer is 104. So, I looked up "order of operations" on Google, and to save you some time, I'll just tell you. This order was designed to avoid just such confusion as I have described. Therefore, my mind is at ease now about why we can't just do this sort of problem left to right, because that creates "chaos" and order of operations was designed to avoid that, so everyone could get the same answer. So, now you know. I am so relieved because all the math-heads on that art group had no clue how to explain this to me. And I still don't know why the math-head put that on the art group feed anyway, but who am I to say? Just more evidence of the math-head versus language-head divide across all of humanity. Oh, if only I could turn back the hands of time and had understood this all my life I could have avoided a lifetime of math anxiety. Oh, what good are regrets anyway? Good afternoon.