A not-so-tiny Thought: Random Musings on Math and the Mind.
Math might just be as simple as you've always wanted it to be... Maybe
This might come across as the yammering of a disillusioned Euler-could-have-been, doing with words what he ought to have done with arithimetic. Well, words don't need theorems, and numbers can sometimes be "imaginary"—for real (pun absolutely intended). I hope you enjoy this piece regardless. Math nerds, please don't take offense. You don't find a lot of math satire out there, you might as well enjoy this one—perhaps the only one you'll see in years.
Let's begin crunching num... words rather. 😉
The holy grail of mathematics consists of (surprise surprise…) intuition and approximation. Why not precision, or at least, well-defined information? I reckon it's because (human) thinking isn't done in digits and numerical hierarchies. Computers may function like this, but not human beings. We are not inferior for being low on the hierarchy of mathematical precision; we are just "us"—designed to engage the world as a spectrum of colors, a blurred but beautiful ensemble of constantly morphing forms. Does that mean we are built with inherent error? I think not. But even if we are such creations of error, look at what we have done with our inventions. I think our contraptions—computers and such—have amply sufficed as compensation. Indeed, our obsession with precision has driven us on a mad scientist's quest to create and constantly improve (supposedly) better versions of ourselves. We call them robots. Perhaps I am being ridiculous, perhaps not. Some say the future will tell; I say the future has already begun to form the words.
We are not inferior for being low on the hierarchy of mathematical precision; we are just "us"—designed to engage the world as a spectrum of colors, a blurred but beautiful ensemble of constantly morphing forms
We have a fascination with playing God—creating forms that take up our likeness and function to different degrees of replication. We also act like there's something flawed about us. It is like a preternatural awareness buried deep in our consciousness that we just can't shake off. As a result, we try to make our creations better than ourselves. The harder we try, the more apparent it becomes that there is just something unique about us. All our technological sophistication fall far short of this strange, flawed perfection that rules(?) this world. But then I digress too much... I go back to crunching words.
What we term mathematical precision is merely a human invention. Some might vehemently argue that it is the language of nature. The patterns, forms, structures, and framework that make up the natural world are all so coherent and consistent that a man of letters once praised (or puzzled at) the “unreasonable effectiveness” of the symbols we have so doggedly associated with them. One would nearly think that numbers are literally written in the stars with such glowing remarks. Mind you, the hearth of stars are full of gas, not numbers. If I were a scientist and had to respond, I would say that numbers are not substances in and of themselves. Rather, they constitute a placeholder for stuff one might regard as actual substance. And that's as much as I'm going to say in favor of math.
But then, mathematics is just a machine. It is a logical construct, a heuristic body of forms and formations that is in itself an approximation of thought and perception. Number bases, function spaces, integers, and fractions may serve for the quantification of aspects of the world. We might even call their specific combinations laws based on extensive experience, measurement (another tricky contraption), and observation. But these are transcendent functions of a mind that runs on virtualization but tries to trick itself into pseudo-reality via semiotics and its closely-related projections.
Is this an argument for inherent chaos, or some kind of perpetual, irredeemable flaw of the human constitution? Certainly not. In fact, it is a loosely defined (I'd take that word with a pinch of salt) conjecture on the true portraiture of human nature. When it comes to learning mathematics, a person is not flawed for needing more time to adopt a borrowed tongue. Perhaps what he needs is to figure out another one that works, as long as it facilitates comprehension. However, some might not want a proliferation of tongues. They'd say Babel might not be too far off if this isn't curbed. Albeit, one thing needs clarification: out there is full-blown Babylon; if not born of Babel, I wonder where it came from.
Numbers are lenses; they do not constitute the rays of light in themselves. Rather, they are our hearts’ means of appreciating a wider range of colors in our world's myriad expressions.
The most gifted mathematicians are highly tuned intuiting machines. To learn math as a means of weighing options, and as a tool for training one's heuristic construct beats learning it as a stiff vocation. This is how to have fun mastering number-words; it is less about finding x and more about finding oneself. It isn't primarily about getting answers spot-on but more about appreciating the question in the long run. Numbers are lenses; they do not, in and of themselves, constitute light rays. Rather, they are our hearts’ means of appreciating a wider range of colors in our world's myriad expressions.
A useful mathematical equation tells a good story.
A useful mathematical equation tells a good story. Being able to tell a story, rather than describe symbols with an equation is a sign of mastery. It is the way of humans. It is art, beauty, and an organic flow of human essence rolled into one. Some call it science, like it is a strange aptitude or a superpower, but it is more innate and natural than we have been made to believe. It is inherent in our genes—making sense of our environment and doing useful stuff with that sense in a demeanor as natural as breathing.
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. If you by any chance still think I'm grounded in reality after reading this, please drop a comment. I'll certainly name you as an accomplice when the Mathematics Police come calling.
See you around…
🖐🏽
… Math isn’t about memorizing formulas; it’s about sharpening your intuition.
- Andrew Ng.
