A reader recently suggested I should write more articles that introduce math specifically for different audiences. Math for doctors (although I’d hope they already know math!), math for artists, math for musicians, etc. I like this idea.
In the spirit of procrastination and given the three other tasks I have to do in currently open tabs, I’m going to now dedicate the next hour to writing a sample post that introduces math to people with a “legal mind.” Don’t worry, dear readers—it just takes an hour to write a blog post. Reading it will only take three minutes.
MATH
Yes. I’ve said the dirty word. Everyone’s dreaded topic. So factual and unforgiving—you’re either good at math or you’re not. Okay. No, no, no. We’re not going with the usual narrative today. Let’s deconstruct this thing that is math, and see what it’s made of. Perhaps it’s not so bad.
Axioms and rules
Math is very ordered. It’s a bit like the French system (civil-law). All of math can be summarized as basic axioms on which everything else is built. Think of math as a set of rules that people have found to be generally useful in the past two thousand years. Like, send a spacecraft-to-mars useful. Once you know the dozen or so rules for working with numbers and expressions, and the dozen definitions and observations about geometry, you’ll have access to some of the “best stuff” that human intellect has to offer. I guess what I’m trying to say is that A) math is not that hard to learn because there is a finite set of basic rules to learn, and B) once a reader learns the basics, the reader is granted a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, worldwide license, to make, use, enjoy, benefit from, teach, share, offer for sale, sell, reproduce, include in, distribute, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, and otherwise exploit math.
Cases
Math has a lot of common-law aspects to it too. Theorems (big results) and lemmas (little results) are like cases that mathematicians have proved. A proof is a bit like a trial, where the mathematician tries to convince the jury (usually consisting of fellow mathematicians) that some new mathematical fact is true. Unlike a real-world courthouse that depends on a judge’s judgment at some point \(t\) in time, a mathematical proof is always on trial. If the mathematician’s proof is solid and can be followed to the basic axioms, it’s very unlikely it will ever turn out to be wrong, so it’s common for mathematicians to simply cite theorems as if they were “ruled upon” case law.
The pitch
So here we are talking about math as if it’s some cool new thing, but we all know that math is difficult to learn and probably not that useful in every day life. Yes, perhaps it is so, but the point remains that certain math—let’s call it the useful part—has been around for thousands of years and hasn’t been proven wrong. Basic math is well understood, highly useful, and totally empowering.
Do you want to be part of this math thing? If so, check out the books.
