Why Study Math?

[EllethValatari]

Just an interesting question: Why study math?


I have my own explanation, (apart from an argument of practicality), but I will withhold it for a little while

[Midge]

So when your kids come home from school, sit down to do their homework and shout, "Mom! I need your help!" you can help them instead of looking at their book and yelling for your older daughter who was in the class the previous year.

[EllethValatari]

But that's an argument from practicality. What I'm really asking is, does math do anything besides help us help our kids learn math so that they can then do the same? Isn't that kind of circular?

(some people might argue that math unifies the universe...just food for thought)

[hectorberlioz]

Well, there are obviously real-life situations where math is supremely useful, such as in calculating a mortgage and such. And having a basic knowledge of multiplication----the more I live, the more I find multiplication useful.

But yeah, other than life I don't find it very useful . I really am not a math person. The realm of words is where I reside. And I often wish people knew their history better more than anything, but that's probably from me being annoyed more than thinking that history is more important than mathematics.

I intended to agree that math was not as useful, but now I'm lost as to my own opinion! I better go count sheep...

PS: the quote by Tolkien in your signature is pure awesome .

[Midge]

Well, as to that, I find that making patterns is extremely fun during super boring classes. For instance, when drawing a circle, then drawing successively more lines through it results in more spaces. If you draw the lines correctly (that is, to get the maximum number of spaces possible), then the number of spaces increases in a pattern like this:

0 lines = 1 space
1 line = 2 spaces
2 lines = 4 spaces
3 lines = 7 spaces
4 lines = 11 spaces
and so on and so forth. Based on this pattern, I could technically predict how many spaces a circle drawn with 11 lines should have, but none of my classes are long enough for me to draw it and test it out.

This doesn't count as practicality, because its entire purpose is to waste time.

[EllethValatari]

Thanks, hector! Yes, it's weird but my favorite Tolkien-work would have to be his essay "On Faerie Stories." I wrote an essay on a similar topic and posted it here for critique...(it's in the Writer's Workshop).

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

The realm of words is where I reside.

A fellow philologist, perhaps? I, too, am a lover of words, and my passion for words is shared only with my passion for math.

[EllethValatari]

(It's almost humorous, I seem to be slowly discovering that I may be one of the youngest Mooters around here...)

[Midge]

For safety purposes I won't ask you your age. I was pretty young when I joined.. I think 15. It's been a while.

[EllethValatari]

Yes, I just find myself scrambling to keep up with the extensive knowledge around here.. then again this "share of knowledge" can only add to mine....so...back to math...should I state my opinion about it's purpose?

[Tessar]

I'd be curious to know what your answer is, but honestly I think the main point boils down to practicality. Learning math is a big part of learning to understand the world around you, and how it works. In today's world it is impossible to get by on any kind of livable level without at least a basic knowledge of math.

Math is also extremely important in the realms of science, art, and music. So in addition to the practical use of knowing how many dollars you'll have left after you buy a carton of milk, it's extremely important for us culturally.

[EllethValatari]

Just to let you all know...

my answer to the question is quite extensive (I have written numerous papers concerning the purpose of mathematics), and summarizing these ideas will take a good deal of my night away from me. Unfortunately, all school duties (homework) fall before Mooting, so I must save my reply for tomorrow.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Mathematics, at least certain branches of it, can help to organize our thinking process, helping us to learn to think more critically, more clearly, and more logically. Also, some of it just interesting, like non-Euclidean geometry. (What do you MEAN these parallel lines meet??? A triangle with angles EXCEEDING TWO RIGHT ANGLES???)

[Earniel]

You might as well ask why learn to read. Some things are just required to get by in this modern world.

I didn't like maths in school much, but I had a great teacher and I appreciate what she did manage to teach me more and more as the years go by. Mathematics is a powerful tool, and getting how some things works by understanding the underlying mathematics is an awesome feeling.

[Comic Book Guy]

Maths was my favourite subject at school and without conceit I'll try and say I was very, very good at it . I was planning on studying it at Uni and maybe taking it to research level or something. But I got discouraged by someone and picked a subject I really had no interest in, consequentially with disastrous results (literally). It's still quite a sore point with me and something that gives me some distress and anxiety whenever I think about it.

It's very important in relation to pretty much natural science, as well the applied ones like Computing Science and Engineering. Mathematical models are especially used in Biology, with theories in genetics and evolution taking a mathematical form. Linguistics and computing are intrinsically mathematical also.

It's also used in Philosophy, with the technical work of Bertrand Russell being a prominent example.

[D.Sullivan]

As Comic Book Guy pointed out, mathematics, especially higher mathematics, finds a lot of its use in the sciences. As a result, I think the reason our culture emphasizes mathematics so much is because it plays such an important role in the sciences, and we want to be a scientifically successful nation. Kids don't often realize how interesting science is until they learn about it, and if they are going to learn about it, they will need the proper tools - mathematical training is one of them.

This is why I think our culture puts such a high emphasis on mathematics, but why do I think we should learn math? I think I agree with the above reasoning. We need to understand science to function well as a society (just look at the confusion propagating the global warming thread...), and if being taught math makes us more likely to understand science, it seems like a worthy cause.

So, not only is it practical to understand mathematics for the sake of our pocketbooks, but also for functioning in a technologically advanced civilization facing many very complex issues, many of which are intrinsically mathematical.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally Posted by D.Sullivan

As a result, I think the reason our culture emphasizes mathematics so much is because it plays such an important role in the sciences, and we want to be a scientifically successful nation.

That may be part of it, but that's certainly not the whole story. The strong emphasis on the value of mathematics predates the scientific revolution by some time. Plato's Academy (reputedly) had the inscription "Let no one unversed in geometry enter here" over the door. There's a strong connection between mathematics and philosophy (also noted by CBG), as well as between mathematics and science.

[D.Sullivan]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

That may be part of it, but that's certainly not the whole story. The strong emphasis on the value of mathematics predates the scientific revolution by some time. Plato's Academy (reputedly) had the inscription "Let no one unversed in geometry enter here" over the door. There's a strong connection between mathematics and philosophy (also noted by CBG), as well as between mathematics and science.

Oh, no doubt! We cannot forget the roles Plato and Pythagoras played in making mathematics a centerpiece of western thought. Mathematics has played a central role in western philosophy, and continues to do so today. For philosophers such as Plato and Pythagoras, however, mathematics played a metaphysical role, whilst today mathematics is used to support an empirical, scientific view of reality. So, though the emphasis on mathematics has been longstanding in western society, I think the reasons for that emphasis have changed over time, and today, the reasons may be slightly different than they were for Plato. If we are to argue that studying mathematics makes for a good education in general, whether it be in understanding the metaphysical or the empirical sciences, than we certainly can trace philosophy all the way back to ancient Greece, I agree.

[GrayMouser]

Because if you don't you're not going out on Friday night. That's why.

[EllethValatari]

Okay, I can post my answer! The reason I asked this question in the first place was to see what other people thought before I wrote my opinion in an essay for school. I turned in the essay today, so I can post it here! The only thing required in the essay was to answer the question, Why study math? My school being a Christian school and me being Anglican, the essay ends with a Christian worldview. Unfortunately, I had to complete it in one night so it is not as well developed and smooth as I would like it to have been. Here it is! Criticize it all you want!

The world as we all know is largely populated by us dragons, whose goal is to hoard as much gold as we can in order to live a leisurely life. In order to obtain gold, we must get a job, which requires an education, which entails the learning of math. As human beings tend to despise requirements, there is a common hatred for the subject of mathematics among students, and “its aesthetic appeal is very real for a chosen few” (G.H. Hardy, A Mathematician’s Apology). In fact, when asked why they study mathematics, the majority of students would say that they do so merely out of duty. While it is important to obey those rules and follow the guidelines set up for us, mathematics should not be considered to be a requirement, and that alone. Mathematics is beautiful, it is mysterious, and it brings glory to God.
As with all kinds of beauty, it is hard to define mathematical beauty, but that cannot prevent us from recognizing something beautiful when we see it. Bertrand Russell derived aesthetic pleasure from mathematics, and encapsulated that pleasure well when he wrote,
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as poetry.”
Russell’s comparison of poetry and mathematics illustrates a common theme among mathematicians; they consider their work to be art. The pleasing method of a proof is elegant, the solving of an equation is a discovery, and the use of the abstract to learn about the physical is beautiful.
Apart from its beauty, math is mysterious; she is able to govern the universe while being absurd.
“Mother Nature wears geometry on her sleeve, she spins the stars around in spirals, molds planets into perfect spheres, sends water undulating downstream in sine waves, pulls projectiles into neat parabolas and holds together the hydrogen atoms in water molecules at precisely 105 degrees”
(K.C. Cole, Geometry Rules the Universe).
As Cole illustrates, geometry, plays a part in nature. It, however, does not govern nature, and the common notion that math is one of the few subjects that is accurate, unquestionable, and not based on human assumption is incorrect. In reality, it is clear that math is fallible, questionable, and somewhat absurd. Take π for example. Our understanding of π exists to show what a perfect circle is despite the fact that no such thing is found in nature. To me it seems to be more likely for a unicorn to exist than a perfect circle, because at least the idea of a unicorn is formed from entities found in nature. In addition to pi, there are imaginary numbers, i.e. √-1, i. Thus Euclid’s proof of the existence of an infinity of prime numbers, and Pythagoras’ proof of the irrationality of √2. All that to say, mathematics does make assumptions. It is, along with the rest of the invisible universe, a mystery.
However; the mystery of math can be key to the understanding of the Christian faith. As numbers like the square root of negative one are approached, pondered, and questioned, the sovereignty and mystery of God shines forth upon his creation. Our God is similar to mathematics in that he is incomprehensible, amazing, and yet his some of his attributes are absurd to the human mind. In his article, In Defense of Wind-Grasping, Douglas Jones argues that mathematics demands a predictable universe which goes against the mystery of God’s universe, “Secularism’s demand for a safe, predictable universe of laws and rules stands in sharp contrast to a Christian universe.” But even if mathematics assumes that the universe is consistent and predictable it does not contradict a “Christian universe.” In the book of Genesis, God warns Lot of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and gives him instructions not to look back, and yet Lot’s wife looks back. In Exodus, God gives His people a list of laws commanding them how to live and act, and yet they disobey Him. In the New Testament, Jesus tells the disciples that he will die and rise from the dead in three days, and yet they do not understand. Christianity is not all mystery; there is also death and confusion. God sees that his people need predictability; they need laws and rules to follow, and they need His promise of future redemption. Mathematics provides formulas that give precise answers; it has laws and rules that can explain the universe, it can amaze us in its beauty, but it lacks redemption.
Unfortunately, our corrupt minds easily satisfy our needs with promises besides those of Christ. In this matter, Jones is correct in his criticism of the perspective that mathematics is able to quench all thirsts for security, predictability, and safety. Mathematics provides formulas that give precise answers; it has laws and rules that explain the universe, but it lack promise. Although math can comfort us with laws, it cannot fully preserve the universe. Preservation needs redemption. Laws can give a person all the predictability and safety they want, but they cannot provide redemption. Math does not determine what will happen in the future, it cannot give us the grace to live in righteousness and holiness, and it cannot provide salvation to those who are fallen. Mathematics is not our savior; it is not God.
Overall, it is important to understand that reason and faith are not mutually exclusive in any way, and that the God that supports us through grace also created us in his image. If God created us in his image, and we have a desire for order, reason, and instruction, is that desire not partly God’s? We need not reject the formulas of geometry or cast out the mysteries of love, grace, and the Trinity. Instead, let everything fulfill its God-given purpose: let mathematics reveal what it can, and mystery withhold what God has ordained to be kept hidden. “Let all mortal flesh keep silence.”

Please critique!

[Midge]

ESSAY:

No offense, but you need to go to the writer's workshop section and read the posts about separating paragraphs.

The following statement is not so much a critique of your essay, as much as essays in general: The way that they make essays written makes them INCREDIBLY boring to read. I think. This could be my own knowledge of the process of writing essays and seeing in your essay above EXACTLY how I would have written such an essay when I was in high school. Once you mature in your writing past needing an introduction with a thesis statement (in this case, "Mathematics is beautiful, it is mysterious, and it brings glory to God." found at precisely the end of the first paragraph), the body paragraphs in the exact same order of the thesis statement, with a concluding paragraph addressing the continuity of the essay, then will your essays become a lot easier to read as well.

The best essays are those which are written like a story, or those that literally follow a train of thought. I realize your teachers probably require this format, but it mostly just quashes good writing talent.

MATH:

Now, on to what I came here to say: MY TEACHER IN ONE OF MY CLASSES ADDRESSED THIS EXACT ISSUE TODAY. "Moving past the usefulness of it, why should students learn math?" What he said was basically your entire essay in one word: "Wonder." Go figure.

It makes me think of something C. S. Lewis wrote in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Lucy speaks the spell to make invisible things visible and Aslan appears. She's offended when he says that her spell made him visible, saying, "As if I could do anything to you!" and he says, "Why wouldn't I follow my own rules?"

I love that. It applies in everything. Short of a disaster signaling the end of the world, the sun will always rise (even when it's hiding behind clouds). No matter how hard the winter, spring will always come eventually. People aren't going to risk their money about whether or not these things will happen because they will, 100% of the time.

No matter what you say about synergy, 1+1 will always equal 2. Multiplication will always work. It's amazing to think about Adam and Eve, living in the world. Did they know math, that is so consistent, in much the same way that God is? Did they know that 2x3=6? Since they had no budget, would they make that a praise song if they did know? How could someone live and NOT know math?

It's enjoyable being existential about math. Sometimes it's difficult being existential about somethings, but not math.