I find Maths very illogical. All the major subjects have grown out of nature, like biology is derived from studying living things, chemistry is about chemicals and molecules. Geology comes from thinking about earth, soil and geological structures.
All of these have their roots in nature and thus they are naturally evolved and are largely logical. On the other hand we have Mathematics, the most basic operation of arithmetic is addition which can be explained with a simple example : 2 + 2 = 4. But my question is why 4? Why not 3 ? What is the definition of 2 ? Where did 2 come from ?
Clearly, Mathematics is built upon hypothetical thoughts. People supposed that 2 should come after 1 but there is no logical basis for putting 2 after 1 or having result 2 + 2 =4 . IT IS ALL JUST IMAGINED AND NOT NATURALLY DERIVED.
This might be the reason why so many people all over the world have difficulty in understanding mathematics. It is so illogical and irrational. Many of the mathematical concepts don’t have any reason behind it and people are told to blindly believe them. Examples of such concepts include that there is no definition for dot or the concept that any number divided by zero is undefined . Is it not unscientific to believe on things without proper (or any) reason ?
Either the whole concept of Mathematics is wrong or the way of presenting it is incorrect. Lets come to gather and think on these issues. The world will be a much better place if we can make Math more logical and easily understood.
Well, first take two apples, then take another set of two apples. When you add them, you put them together. So now check how many apples you have: 4. That's why 2+2=4. Simples. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you're planning in redefining the numerical system, please don't export it.
ReplyDeleteThough governments might be happy with your redefined system as they love to fool the public into reasons why they should pay more taxes and receive less in return.
There are some things in math that seem illogical. The first thing that comes to mind for me is the precedence of zero.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in real life if I multiply five objects by nothing I'm still left with the five objects. But in math the zero takes precedence, so 5 x 0 always means 0 x 5, and never 5 x 0. Zero represents nothing - so if I make that into a logical sentence what I'm putting forth will make sense.
Five units of zero (nothing) equals zero (nothing) while five units of something, times nothing, will still remain as the original something, unmultiplied.
Whereas for some reason they recognize that you can't divide by nothing. I have no idea why there is this bias or how they came to these rules. Obviously math is used for a lot of stuff - measuring trajectories and so on, so it works but perhaps it could have been a slightly different system and still worked out just the same. Who knows! Not me.
@Trevor Guitar : I quite agree with you Trevor. It is this special capabilities of math that makes it the most unique subject. It makes you love it when the most complex problems can be solved through its concepts but also confuses you with the basic inconsistency such as the one you explained with your example of precedence of zero.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting and bold subject. Too bad it has been left to "die"... Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteRead my related article "Division by Zero" at http://harmoniaphilosophica.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/division-by-zero-10-one/... Logic is illogical sometimes indeed...
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