I had lunch with a gentleman this afternoon who is of the opinion that math is the gateway to higher understanding of things throughout one's entire life. I am curious to what other people think in this aspect.
This is a good example, I think, of where math can help real world problems. However, the idea of isolating core issues and pitting the two against one another does not require an understanding of mathematical principles. From my point of view, many mathematical concepts and relationships work well in the abstract world as well as that on paper.
Is the whole "Math is Life" concept a bunch of fluff that serves itself or can it really be applied in a *real* sense often? Is math a highly important part of excelling in greater understanding?
When translating your real world problem
in to mathematical form you usually have to
make choices. A lot of physics is about which terms to deem too small to be of interest - and, voila, the equation in question becomes much easier. Then math might give you your answer or might be able to tell you this is too hard (Matrix too big for solving in your lifetime, halting problem etc)
But how do you know which choices to make for the translation?
So "Math is Life" goes a little too far. A little math is probab
"Is the whole "Math is Life" concept a bunch of fluff that serves itself or can it really be applied in a *real* sense often? Is math a highly important part of excelling in greater understanding?"
You're not looking for math. You're looking for philosophy. Google "great philosophers", grab some books, and read. After going through a period of ecstatic jubilation at finally having found some answers, you'll look deeper and find that you really haven't answered anything, and are still searching for that
who is of the opinion that math is the gateway to higher understanding of things
I thought this would get many more replies. It is an interesting question. For most of my life I had strong leanings towards agreeing (and maybe will again tomorrow). e.g. anything can be measured, you just have to know what to measure. But math has its own built in absurdities.
I sometimes see math as its own language that has limitations of any language when it comes to "higher understanding". James Joyce saw himself as an
You seem to have a grasp on the benefits of math in life; maybe I could pick your brain some? The particular discussion over lunch arose out of my curiosity at the "true geeks." Maybe I can explain.
A 'true' geek to me is someone who takes an interest in something just to know about it. Most of the true geeks I know also happen to be very intelligent and generally have more than one specialty, for instance computer science and some areas of physics (acoustics, electronics). I regard many of these people
He had noted that the "genius" geeks he is familiar with are all skilled in math.
Bah. I think that's only because geeks who aren't "math-n-physics-n-star-trek" geeks don't LOOK like geeks as often to other people. Mathematics impresses people as "geeky" because most (so-called) normal people don't spend the time to go too far beyond the basics - face it, even a lot of basic science work requires no more than introductory algebra (and when was the last time you actually had a practical use for "synthetic
Please do not discard applied math because pure math seems too idealistic. In the repeated binary division example you give, simply decide what is the smallest linear dimension that can practically be cut (in practice, i.e. in pragmatic application). Then use the math until the linear dimension falls below this threshold and you have determined how many cuts you can practically make.
One could say that even this is too pure, in that practically speaking, we tend not to make perfect cuts and apples tend not
Is the whole "Math is Life" concept a bunch of fluff that serves itself or can it really be applied in a *real* sense often? Is math a highly important part of excelling in greater understanding?
Yes, it can be applied often and yes it helps greater understanding. The application might not mean actually calculating things, but mean understanding the mathematical organization and relationships.
The greatest way understanding math can help enlightenment is by enhancing imagination. With an expanded imagina
You make a very good point and illustration, though I'm not sure my entire question has been answered. I'm referring to this part:
"Is math a highly important part of excelling in greater understanding?"
And this is my dillema. Through programming and understanding object relationships, learning how to break down code into bits in my mind, etc., I have a greater understanding of life in general. I'm able to use the analytical, logical and abstract skills from programming and apply them to life in gener
"Mr. Watson, come here, I want you." -- Alexander Graham Bell
Math as a way of life? (Score:2)
This is a good example, I think, of where math can help real world problems. However, the idea of isolating core issues and pitting the two against one another does not require an understanding of mathematical principles. From my point of view, many mathematical concepts and relationships work well in the abstract world as well as that on paper.
Is the whole "Math is Life" concept a bunch of fluff that serves itself or can it really be applied in a *real* sense often? Is math a highly important part of excelling in greater understanding?
Cheers
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:1)
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:1)
You're not looking for math. You're looking for philosophy. Google "great philosophers", grab some books, and read. After going through a period of ecstatic jubilation at finally having found some answers, you'll look deeper and find that you really haven't answered anything, and are still searching for that
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:2)
who is of the opinion that math is the gateway to higher understanding of things
I thought this would get many more replies. It is an interesting question. For most of my life I had strong leanings towards agreeing (and maybe will again tomorrow). e.g. anything can be measured, you just have to know what to measure. But math has its own built in absurdities.
I sometimes see math as its own language that has limitations of any language when it comes to "higher understanding". James Joyce saw himself as an
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:2)
A 'true' geek to me is someone who takes an interest in something just to know about it. Most of the true geeks I know also happen to be very intelligent and generally have more than one specialty, for instance computer science and some areas of physics (acoustics, electronics). I regard many of these people
Math-turbation? (Score:2)
Bah. I think that's only because geeks who aren't "math-n-physics-n-star-trek" geeks don't LOOK like geeks as often to other people. Mathematics impresses people as "geeky" because most (so-called) normal people don't spend the time to go too far beyond the basics - face it, even a lot of basic science work requires no more than introductory algebra (and when was the last time you actually had a practical use for "synthetic
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:1)
One could say that even this is too pure, in that practically speaking, we tend not to make perfect cuts and apples tend not
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:1)
Yes, it can be applied often and yes it helps greater understanding. The application might not mean actually calculating things, but mean understanding the mathematical organization and relationships.
The greatest way understanding math can help enlightenment is by enhancing imagination. With an expanded imagina
Re:Math as a way of life? (Score:2)
"Is math a highly important part of excelling in greater understanding?"
And this is my dillema. Through programming and understanding object relationships, learning how to break down code into bits in my mind, etc., I have a greater understanding of life in general. I'm able to use the analytical, logical and abstract skills from programming and apply them to life in gener