←back to thread

Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

(www.quantamagazine.org)
669 points sonabinu | 1 comments | 21 Nov 24 01:45 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
penguin_booze ◴[21 Nov 24 12:56 UTC] No.42203880[source]▶
To my mind, the premature formalization of the math is the principal contributor to gas lighting and alienation of people from maths. The reduction of concepts to symbols and manipulation thereof, is an afterthought. It's misguided for them to be introduced to people right at the outset.

People need to speak in plain English [0]. To some mathematicians' assertion that English is not precise enough, I say, take a hike. One need to walk before they can run.

Motivating examples need to precede mathematical methods; formulae and proofs ought to be reserved for the appendix, not page 1.

[0] I mean natural language

replies(9): >>42203947 #>>42203971 #>>42204913 #>>42205113 #>>42205211 #>>42205397 #>>42205805 #>>42206498 #>>42216421 #
1. noqc ◴[21 Nov 24 15:39 UTC] No.42205397[source]▶
I have never disagreed more with a comment. You can fully decide that you're not interested in mathematics, after having taken all of the math classes that you could possibly be offered before university, without ever encountering a proof, or even a mathematical definition.