Developmental Mathematics Revival!

Does Math Exist?

Okay, you have to pick ONE answer for this question, and the only available answers are ‘yes’ and ‘no’. What say you?

Some of us will say math exists because it provides practical answers to problems and describes the world around us. Some of us will say that math does not exist because math itself is an abstraction about quantities — not the quantities themselves.

I got thinking about this question as I ponder again our basic label ‘math’ or ‘mathematics’ (though I like the UK version ‘maths’ better than ‘math’). It’s ironic that there is so little difference between the english word ‘math’ and the english word ‘myth’, because very few people have an accurate picture about math.

How about we start a list of “FAQ” (frequently asked questions) about the nature of mathematics? We would state the answers in non-technical terms to help the public, especially policy-makers, understand what maths are. Too often, we have well-intentioned authorities or agencies decree that a specific math course (or set of outcomes) is good for all students … or they decree that all students must pass a certain math course — and place math in the position of gate-keeper.

Here is a start of the FAQ (feel free to add your own):

Question 1: Is, or should, mathematics be practical?
Answer 1: We noticed that the question was not qualified … if this was ‘always’ practical, or ‘all mathematics’, the answer would most definitely be NO. Mathematics is a collection of sciences dealing with ideas about quantities, which means that most mathematics is practical to somebody. However, a basic observation about the history of mathematics is that most of the ideas started out being considered impractical but most of them turn out to be practical. People learning mathematics have to accept that some ideas may not seem practical at the time; a good mathematics course will combine practical uses with ideas that are not always applied.