Why study mathematics?

[Guest]

Life is generally difficult! But the study of mathematics especially number theory makes it worthwhile!

[Guest]

"My conscious mind cannot fathom the world."

FYI: 'Why is Math Important in Life?'

https://www.piday.org/10-reasons-why-math-is-important-in-life/.

[Guest]

"Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations she is entitled to the first rank."

"It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. When I have clarified and exhausted a subject, then I turn away from it, in order to go into darkness again; the never-satisfied man is so strange if he has completed a structure, then it is not in order to dwell in it peacefully,but in order to begin another. I imagine the world conqueror must feel thus, who, after one kingdom is scarcely conquered, stretches out his arms for others."

"You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length."

"Theory attracts practice as the magnet attracts iron."

"You have no idea, how much poetry there is in the calculation of a table of logarithms!"

"I have had my results for a long time: but I do not yet know how I am to arrive at them."

"If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and as continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries."

"Mathematicians stand on each other's shoulders."

-- Carl Friedrich Gauss, a great mathematician.

Source Links: https://www.azquotes.com/author/5394-Carl_Friedrich_Gauss;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss.

[Guest]

FYI: "Why is Math So Important?"

https://blog.mindresearch.org/blog/why-is-math-so-important.

[Guest]

"Hmm. If there are any gaps in my mathematical reasoning for my posts on this website or elsewhere, please fill them and inform me. Thank you!"

Dave,

https://theory-of-energy.org/contact/.

Go Blue!

[Guest]

FYI: "Researchers find value in comparison of multiple strategies for mathematics teaching and learning."

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-comparison-multiple-strategies-mathematics.html.

[Guest]

The study of mathematics or problem-solving in mathematics can be a liberating experience. For example, let's say we are at state A (concentration, knowledge, understanding, ability, etc.), and we want to achieve the next state B (higher concentration, higher knowledge, deeper understanding, greater ability, etc.) in the field of mathematics. It requires more effort on our part.

How much effort? It depends on how difficult the goal (examples: solving a math problem, learning advanced math, reviewing a published mathematical work, etc.) may be. A great goal requires great effort (ability, concentration, knowledge, understanding, planning, thinking, learning, discipline, insight, investigation, etc.) from us.

And if something worthwhile absorbs us mentally, then it liberates us from the oppression of self-consciousness or inner anxiety or turmoil, the sense of time, the sense of place, the sense of circumstance, etc. We are one. And we are whole/fulfilled. We have a purpose for existing...

Yes! The outcome of our efforts may be successful or less than expected. But we claim the effort or journey matters most and is self-liberating/transformative. Please give it a try. Good luck!

FYI: "Self Reflection in mathematics and meditation."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iau7LFrmlVg.

[Guest]

WOW! (Words Of Wisdom): "There’s more to mathematics than rigour and proofs." by Prof. Terence Tao,

https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/theres-more-to-mathematics-than-rigour-and-proofs/comment-page-3/#comment-637983.

[Guest]

There should be ten top reasons to study/learn math:

1. The Importance of Mathematical Modeling and the Scientific Method

2. ...

Relevant Reference Links:

'On Modeling Complex Processes with Numbers',

https://www.math10.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=8579;

'The Importance of Math',

https://jesuitroundup.org/viewpoint/viewpoint-student-life/the-importance-of-math/.

[Guest]

FYI: 'Why math is important?'

https://www.basic-mathematics.com/why-math-is-important.html.

[sueambrose121]

Very interesting thread. It was exciting to read all the reasons.

[Guest]

WOW! (Words Of Wisdom): "There’s more to mathematics than rigour and proofs." by Prof. Terence Tao,

https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/theres-more-to-mathematics-than-rigour-and-proofs/comment-page-3/#comment-637983.

Oops! I made a mistake! Sorry, I posted the message and and link (above). Please ignore it if you can.


"Don't pay attention to authorities (so-called experts). Think for yourself." -- Richard Feynman.

Dave.

[Guest]

FYI:

"Mathematics helps us understand the world and provides an effective way of building mental discipline. Math encourages logical reasoning, critical thinking, creative thinking, abstract or spatial thinking, problem-solving ability, and even effective communication skills."

[Guest]

FYI:

"Mathematical analysis serves as a common foundation for many research areas of pure and applied mathematics. It is also an important and powerful tool used in many other fields of science, including physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, finance, and economics." -- Jiongmin Yong.

[Guest]

FYI:

"Mathematical analysis serves as a common foundation for many research areas of pure and applied mathematics. It is also an important and powerful tool used in many other fields of science, including physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, finance, and economics." -- Jiongmin Yong.

"Moreover, mathematical analysis is the process or the result of modeling and analyzing a phenomenon using mathematical techniques in general."

[Guest]

FYI:

"Mathematics is a living science, where problems and theory come from the discipline itself. As such, pure mathematics can be considered both an art and a science. Mathematics is actually much more than just a tool and methodology!" -- Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen.

"Science is an adventure of the human spirit. It is essentially an artistic enterprise, stimulated largely by curiosity, served largely by disciplined imagination, and based largely on faith in the reasonableness, order, and beauty of the universe." -- Warren Weaver.

[Guest]

“The mathematician's patterns, like the painter's or the poet's must be beautiful; the ideas like the colours or the words, must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics.” -- G. H. Hardy.

"When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in the midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"--that is all
Ye need know on Earth, and all ye need to know." -- John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn.

[Guest]

FYI:

"Mathematics is a living science, where problems and theory come from the discipline itself. As such, pure mathematics can be considered both an art and a science. Mathematics is actually much more than just a tool and methodology!" -- Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen.

"Science is an adventure of the human spirit. It is essentially an artistic enterprise, stimulated largely by curiosity, served largely by disciplined imagination, and based largely on faith in the reasonableness, order, and beauty of the universe." -- Warren Weaver.

FYI: How to Science is a show about the human side of scientists and the beauty of research, produced by the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. We insist that science is beautiful, accessible, personal, and human. And any listener can do science, too.

[Guest]

On the Importance of Math Link:

https://youtu.be/YoL3LfY3ogg

[Guest]

How Failure Has Made Mathematics Stronger:
The topologist Danny Calegari discusses the inevitability of disappointment in math, and how to learn from it.