Make numbers flow
+David Amerland is explaining how do numbers persist in our daily activities.
#numbers
Originally shared by David Amerland
Numbers
Is mathematics invented or discovered? The question is more than sophistry. If mathematics is discovered then it means that it exists independently of us and that would suggest that there is a Reality out there that is made up of all the partial realities we experience and try to explain which might also suggest that there is somehow a Higher Order (or Higher Power?) than what we perceive.
Unsurprisingly the question is being asked by many (http://goo.gl/WOm2rp) and the answers provided are not always conclusive: http://goo.gl/VIND3C. Certainly mathematics may, at times, feel a little like magic (http://goo.gl/8IqnI1) which is not helped when it’s used to do tricks (http://goo.gl/c8dAAK). Despite the fact that it’s been with us for a very long time (https://goo.gl/2y1pDT), mathematics is still surprising us with the discoveries we make: http://goo.gl/Kr5m68.
It is mathematics, of course, that underpins computing and makes this column possible, as well as our subsequent communication: http://goo.gl/B60lF8 and it is mathematics that appears to predict how well a marriage will go: https://goo.gl/F1tU1Z.
Mathematics also changes our brains: https://goo.gl/w3wTpZ and it turns out we can restructure them to become better at mathematics: http://goo.gl/9kgMf6. Maths is also closely associated with culture (https://goo.gl/PAQIWO). If you are feeling special however, stop right now, because animals also have the ability to count: http://goo.gl/byO1k9 with some very interesting results: http://goo.gl/KteCx6.
As a matter of fact birds can get with numbers as well as quantities: http://goo.gl/Jxf1pa and animals that have experienced mathematics have changed their minds and how they work: http://goo.gl/ax2cmE.
But beyond dazzling us with their mystery mathematics also has a place in more mundane things such as the economy: https://goo.gl/5xisFl and more personal ones such as friendships: http://goo.gl/JkE3Go and the friends Paradox: https://goo.gl/uDhz9P. As a matter of fact, given the ability mathematics has of modelling just about anything, even climate change (http://goo.gl/8GgNHm) it’s no surprise that it then models everything: http://goo.gl/d7pcn5.
Even love is not immune to mathematics: https://goo.gl/6oqOik. Our first games were most probably numerical and in the online world we continue to play mathematical games: http://goo.gl/u4FA.
When it comes to mathematics certain concepts, like infinity: https://goo.gl/gxKuk9 are truly headbenders: http://goo.gl/MzVxzu as mathematicians try to workout exactly what infinity does: http://goo.gl/DzMzsg.
Mathematics, of course, also controls social media: https://goo.gl/6CNSQY and engagement: http://goo.gl/tgCgmO. And research has shown that when it comes to mathematics social gender differences disappear: http://goo.gl/PxqVYD. There is a deeper reason we are talking mathematics today and it has nothing to do with cryprography (http://goo.gl/uhi7Gv) or food (http://goo.gl/hwF1Mk) and a lot to do with finding that perfect (http://goo.gl/37Cuiq) donut: http://goo.gl/ONvwr.
Mathematics and probability, of course, go hand in hand: https://goo.gl/eMMlO2. We live in a world where data underpins everything and that means getting to grips with mathematics, at some point will be as inevitable as it is desirable.
I hope you’ve done your homework for today. Countless donuts, cookies, croissants and chocolate cake await you, washed down of course, with suitable amounts of freshly made coffee. Have an awesome Sunday, wherever you are.
