On Thursday we took a look at how we perceive the world, through our eyes, our comprehension, and our "facts".
Is math culturally bound? Can Math truly serve as a universal language? Is there even such a thing as a "universal language"?
Please think about these questions and comment
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Is math culturally bound? Hmm... That's a tough one. It really is. On the surface of it, one might be tempted to say no, because numbers are universal, right? Well, what about people who use a base twelve number system instead of base ten? Or what about binary? These variations on basic mathematic principals certainly seem culturally bound.
At the same time, conversions between the various and sundry systems do exist. In this sense, as long as people are willing to acknowledge the advancements of other cultures mathematically speaking, one can convert their discoveries into something understandable in your own culture.
It's rather like translating spoken language, but with the difference that everything is translatable. No culture (to my limited knowledge) has a number that can't be converted to something coherent to any other number system. It may take work, yes, but on this basis, I find that Math is in fact universal. Both at a surface level, and at a core level.
I don't think Math is culturally bound. Math is the same no matter what. One plus one is two no matter if your one looks like a straight line or a pine tree. The way math is -used- can be culturally bound, but that is the same as anything else. Chemistry is universal, but that can be used differently by different cultures, same with biology and history.
Yes, the use of the map example would make it seem that math is subjective, but, the map that we viewed in class (where Greenland was like 300 times the size of the US) it was drawn to scale incorrectly. The Earth is curved, therefore the scale at the Equator is not going to be the same as the scale at the North Pole. The sixteenth century maps we looked at are also problematic because A) they were made by Europeans who for the most part had never left Europe and were working from travelogues and B) They really didn't care if they got continents like Africa or South America geographically correct -- they just wanted the diamond and gold mines propberly labeled. This is an example of math being interpreted by a culture, not changed by it. Fun fact: For about 300 years after the original European landfall in Florida, maps were made showing a large lake about halfway up the eastern coast. That lake does not exist, yet several different series of maps show it as being there.
The question as to whether or not math is a universally "true" system is extremely profound. How can we determine that anything is true really? What does that word even mean? The concept of truth strikes me as something quite intangible. Regardless of whether or not humankind is one unit, experiencing the phenomenon of life together rather than separately, it is undoubtedly made up of millions of smaller units- that is each individual human makes up the whole. To use mathematical terms- we are fractions. Truth implies an immobility. Something that is true can never be false. But things that are accepted to be that way by one person or even one group of people, no matter how large, will never be accepted by the whole. There will always be doubt in at least one.
Even if there were an instance where something was found to be universally true - there would be no way to prove the truth in that truth. Human beings are far too complex to boil anything down to a yes or a no. Those words are huge generalizations and huge concepts or ideas are often forced into one of those two teeny tiny boxes. So if something were put into the yes box by every single person - even that can not be considered true. People are too dishonest and socially conditioned and confused to claim anything to be true. Everything will always be different for everyone, math included, and these differences should be enjoyed and used to question and challenge.
I think that math can be the universal language. Yes, culturally it can serve different purposes and the symbols themselves are not identical across the globe, but it's like we discussed the very first day of class- math is innocent. Thus, math itself would not create barriers of communication or understanding, but rather the cultural differences that have developed over time. The millions of math processes are the same all over the world, and have been for hundreds of years. Thankfully there have been developments, but basic concepts still remain the same, and even those developments are eventually universal... once cultural differences have been eliminated.
This is a very interesting question. There are obvious cultural boundaries and differences-a great example is the different maps and ways of viewing the world that we saw in class. However, I don't believe that math is culturally bound. Prime numbers are going to be the same in any country or place or number system. And mathematical principles are found everyday in nature- examples we've talked about in class are the golden ratio and fibonacci's sequence as well as fractals (snowflakes and clouds are examples of these). So, no-I don't believe that math is culturally bound, and that systems of math can be "translated" as Chuck stated.
I also remember once being involved in a debate over whether math or music is the more universal language, or if there is such a thing as being "more" universal. This would be something interesting to maybe discuss in class.
I think it is interesting that even in such an exact science as math, human ego can still interfere and alter the outcome. This said, we did a relatively good job of drawing the world map in a proportionately accurate way. I don't doubt that many times when that project was undertaken in this country, the United States turned out to be drawn much larger than is proportionately accurate.
I thought the "world map project" was a really good idea, and an interesting way to link math to outside topics. For someone who does not like math, but excels in history/geography, that would be a great "hook" to catch their interest and get them thinking.
I mean i dont speak math fluently, but overall I believe that it could be considered a universal language. While not everyone does math the same way it still is all math.
I agree with the others who say that some parts of math are culturally bound. But I think that it is possible to understand these differences using math. (Sort of like translating from a foreign language into your native tongue).
I think tamar's question is very interesting. I know for me I connect with music more than math, and would simply lean twoards saying that it is a more universal language. But really the more I think about it the harder that question is to answer. There must be some people out there who just connect with math to the level that it seems to them to be the best universal language. It definitely a very interesting point to debate.
I believe that math can be inerpreted in many different ways, but the basic principals from country to country are the same. A perfect example of this was when Mike showed us the different views of the world map on Friday. Who's to say which view is "correct?" It is all about perspective and personal intrepretation. I believe that math can be a universal language...it can be used to bring together people of different backgrounds and experiences.
in my opinion, music is the universal language, not math. some cultures might use different terms for things, but they are all very transferable. This is why music can come to the US so easily, and US music can become huge in say, japan. I was talking to my jazz teacher about his time in spain, and he recalls playing gigs with guys that didnt speak one word of english and he could still say, lets play the blues, and the other players knew exactly what to do.
Math, not so much in my opinion. I know nothing about math in other cultures, but i feel like it wouldn't be as easy to understand it from outside the culture like music is.
I liked the idea of perception that we did on friday, i think its always cool to see things from outside our culture.
I believe that math is truly a universal language because everyone world wide has certain understanding conceptually. I believe that the way that math is tought throughtout the world is unique to each area, in the sense that there is not a universal standard approach to learning. I do believe that the approachs differ universally and culturally but that the languae is unilateral.
I agree with what Chuck says about how math is a translatable language. It is a language that is uniquie to it's own culture but can be related or translated to all other cultures.
I thought that the lesson we did in class with the different maps was quite interesting and gives great insight as to how math has some cultural bindings.
What is truth? This is a lofty question. The map exercise was a perfect example of the assumptions many people make when the are so 'sure' that they know what is, what isn't, what's right, what's not, etc. It was challenging and exciting to attempt to reproduce the map from memory and then to rediscover the way we've been constructed to believe the way it looks and the variety of options in terms of what the geographical truth may actually be regarding the world. It is hard sometimes to look past the end of one's nose and attempt to understand and reinterpret the world outside of your original understanding but the possibilities are endless once you have managed to break free of these binding preconceived notions. I really enjoyed the map exercise today. I hope to do more perception expanding exercises like it in the future.
I would agree with many people who have posted earlier. Math in my opinion would definitely be considered a universal language and when I saw universal, I really mean linear throughout the universe. Kinda like what jennifer said earlier No matter where you go 2 things and two things will most likely equal four things.
Math transcends language because it can be understood throughout the world. This is how scientific discoveries and things like the Manhattan project can take place. Scientists and mathematicians can share information without having to share a common language.
I suppose that the basic concepts of math are the same across most cultures. Knowledge such as one thing plus another thing = two things or geometry or physics would be universal. However different cultures might not share the same ideas concerning higher levels of math (such as algebra or trig) While math contains things that are universal in the human experience, I don't believe that it could serve as an effective language since mathematical symbols and equations cannot convey human emotions. Human language is more than logic, therefore we use words to convey the beauty of a poem.
"Yo, check it one for Charlie Hustle, two for Steady Rock
Three for the fourth comin live, future shock
It's five dimensions, six senses
Seven firmaments of heaven to hell, 8 Million Stories to tell
Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit
with the probable tenth, the universe expands length
The body of my text posess extra strength
Power-liftin powerless up, out of this, towerin inferno
My ink so hot it burn through the journal
...
Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story
Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory
...
It's mathematics." - Mos Def, Mathematics
Now, is math culturally bound?
i don't think math is really bound to anything but like a poem or a novel everyone has their own interpretation, their own uses for it and lessons learned from it, and nothing is necessarily wrong with that.
i had another thought which is that even hannah's comment that we as humans are fractions is a culturally realative idea. it's an idea that i really like, but different people have different notions of one-ness i think. some Americans might tell you that each person is one, around whom a whole world revolves, and everything beyond the boundary of that world is unimportant. a lot of people will tell you that each person is a fraction of something bigger, or that a son or daughter is only a finger, and that their family is the whole hand. some people will tell you that when a baby is born he or she is only the spirit of whomever died most recently, returning in a new form. so the whole concept of one, the concept of being able to isolate 'one' from 'the rest' is a culturally relative concept.
I think that math can be used as a universal language. When matematicians were first recording their discoveries they seemed to transcend cultural boundaires. Math is something that can be viewed as a universal truth. No matter where you go 2+2=4. It doesn't matter what your beliefs are or what language you speak, you can understand and appreciate math as a way to connect with other people and the universe around you.
I feel that math is culturally bound yet universal at the same time. Basically math is pretty much set in stone but how you interpret it is what makes it culturally different kind of like how a law is set in stone but a judge can interpret it how he pleases. Math (like music) is a universal language that we all understand to some extent, because it is all around us and being used by us whether we know it or not. The map was a very good example because we were always shown a map with Antarctica in the south, but seeing that one map where it was upside down kinda made me think. It felt kind of awkward to look at but mathematically it was just as correct as the others, except our culture had bound us to the others.
I think that math is culturally bound, mainly because it's one of the few things that all cultures can relate to. Most cultures don't have the same language, history, customs, etc. But we can all relate to numbers. Since math is closely related with science, different cultures can work together (even if they do have different languages and whatnot) toward one mathematical or scientific goal -- such as landing on the moon or creating new buildings.
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