^CategoryMathematics

Schoolchildren writing on chalkboard in classroom during math lesson

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 26, 2021

Categorized
Education, Mathematics

Tagged
education, Equitable Math, Featured, math, objectivity, Racism, white supremacy, white supremacy culture}

Antiracism In Math Promotes Racism and Bad Math

_{If you are scratching your head over how math might be racist, you are not alone} _{Jonathan Bartlett

February 26, 2021

6

Education, Mathematics}

Recently, a conglomeration of California education associations got together to work on a series of resources for mathematics teachers. The goal? Eliminate racism in mathematics classes by promoting Equitable Math. If you are struggling to imagine how mathematics could be racist, you are not alone. I am certain there exist racist teachers, and probably teachers who exhibit racist expectations of their students. I would support any reasonable action to get rid of or reform such teachers. But that is not the primary goal of these resources. The website, equitablemath.org, instead believes that the very way that mathematics is commonly taught is not just racist, but is specifically white supremacist. While I consider myself to be somewhat of a mathematics reformer Read More ›

Educational kids math toy wooden board stick game counting set in kids math class kindergarten. Math toy kids concept.

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post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 16, 2021

Categorized
Education, Mathematics

Tagged
1984 (book), 2 + 2 = 4, 2 + 2 = 5, Algebra, Brittany Marshall, Cynical Theories (book), Douglas Murray, Edward Feser, Equals sign, Ethnomathematics, G. K. Chesterton, George Orwell, James Lindsay, Laurie Rubel, Nancy Pearcey, Oregon Department of Education (ODE), Paula Bolyard, Rochelle Gutierrez, Seattle math curriculum, War on math}

Yes, There Really Is a War on Math in Our Schools

_{Pundits differ as to the causes but here are some facts parents should know} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 16, 2021

10

Education, Mathematics}

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently encouraged teachers to register for training that encourages “ethnomathematics,” an education trend that argues, “among other things, that White supremacy manifests itself in the focus on finding the right answer”: “The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so,” the document for the “Equitable Math” toolkit reads. “Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.” … An associated “Dismantling Racism” workbook, linked within the toolkit, similarly identifies “objectivity” — described as “the belief that there is such a thing as being objective or ‘neutral’” — as a characteristic of White supremacy. Instead Read More ›

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post

Author
Richard W. Stevens
Date
February 15, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Science

Tagged
Birds, Dinosaurs, Dinsosaurs to birds, Evolution (roller skates analogy), Featured, Hardware vs. software, Muscle memory, Neo-Darwinism, Software vs. hardware}

Random Evolution Doesn’t Produce Algorithmic Functions in Animals

_{A bird does not fly just because it has wings; it needs a “flight” program in its brain. Explanations of the evolution of flight do not account for that.} _{Richard W. Stevens

February 15, 2021

7

Mathematics, Science}

In a recent article “Evolution and artificial intelligence face the same basic problem,” Eric Holloway addressed the conundrum faced by artificial intelligence theorists: How can “a random process with no insight into the environment… increase information about that environment within evolving DNA sequences and/or artificial intelligence programs. By what mechanism can randomness ‘know’ anything?” Dr. Holloway’s challenge goes to the heart of the problem with the materialist worldview regarding origins, evolution, and ultimately intelligence. Software vs. hardware in your body Imagine you knew absolutely nothing about roller skates. Then you awoke this morning to find your ankles and feet permanently installed into roller skates. Instantly, everything you understood about walking and running is worthless. Getting onto your feet at all Read More ›

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post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 21, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Coin flips, David Hilbert, Featured, Real numbers}

Most Real Numbers Are Not Real, or Not in the Way You Think

_{Typical real numbers contain an encoding of all of the books in the US Library of Congress} _{Robert J. Marks

January 21, 2021

5

Mathematics}

Pick a random real number between zero and one. The number you choose, with probability one, will contain an encoding of all of the books in the US Library of Congress. This sounds absurd, but real numbers require infinite precision and every time you deal with the infinite, things get absurd. Infinities, including the infinite number of digits to express almost every real number, don’t exist. Curiously then, real numbers are not real. How do we choose a random number between zero and one? The easiest way to explain is using binary decimals. The binary number 0.1000… with zeros forever denotes the number ½ or, in base 10 notation, 0.5. The binary decimal 0.01000… with zeros forever is the number Read More ›

Young serious female latin math school teacher wearing glasses holding writing equation on whiteboard in classroom. Hispanic university college tutor, graduate student learning, teaching during class.

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 18, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Complex numbers, Featured, Hippasus, Hyperreal numbers, infinity, Irrational numbers, Real numbers, square root of 2}

Can We Add New Numbers to Mathematics?

_{We can work with hyperreal numbers using conventional methods. It could start in high school} _{Jonathan Bartlett

January 18, 2021

6

Mathematics}

Sometimes mathematics is moved forward by the discovery of new formulas and solutions to problems. However, sometimes mathematics grows by adding new kinds of numbers to the number system. In the early days of mathematics, it was thought that whole numbers were the only kind that existed. Sure, there were fractions, but fractions are merely ratios of whole numbers. It was thought that every possible number could be written in terms of whole numbers. These numbers were called rational numbers because they could be written as a ratio. There is a story about a Greek philosopher, Hippasus who discovered, roughly 2500 years ago, that certain numbers (specifically the square root of two) could not be written in terms of ratios Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 1, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Bayes' Theorem, David Hartley, David Hume, Featured, Four Dissertations (book), Observations on Man (book), Richard Price, Statistics, Stephen Stigler, Thomas Bayes}

How Bayes’ Math Rule Can Counter Unreasonable Skepticism

_{Mathematics is much more interesting if we know a bit about the players and their positions} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 1, 2020

4

Mathematics}

Yesterday, we discussed the importance of Bayes’ rule in statistical reasoning. We used the example of a person who goes for a battery of screening tests and comes up positive for HIV. Let’s say she is surprised (and alarmed) because she is not at any known risk for HIV. But, it turns out, the risk of false positives for the test is several times greater than the incidence of HIV in the population. In that case, it is reasonable for her to suspect—on a statistics science basis, not just wishful thinking—that the test is a false positive. The formula we used is part of Bayesian reasoning, originally developed by an eighteen-century British clergyman and mathematician Thomas Bayes (1702–1761), but now Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 30, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics

Tagged
Bayes’ Rule, Bayesian reasoning, False positives, Featured, HIV, Probability, Risk, Screening tests, Thomas Bayes}

Can an 18th Century Statistician Help Us Think More Clearly?

_{Distinguishing between types of probability can help us worry less and do more} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 30, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics}

Thomas Bayes (1702–1761) (pictured), a statistician and clergyman, developed a theory of decision-making which was only discussed after his death and only became important in the 20th century. It is now a significant topic in philosophy, in the form of Bayesian epistemology. Understanding Bayes’ Rule may be essential to making good decisions. Let’s say that you are a generally healthy person and have no symptoms of any illness and no specific risk factors for any illness. Acting on a friend’s suggestion, you get screened for a variety of diseases, just to be sure. Of the diseases you test for, the HIV test comes back positive. You read on the package that the test is 99.6% accurate. Are you more likely Read More ›

Educated school kid lifting world globe chalk doodle drawing on green chalkboard for education concept

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 26, 2020

Categorized
Education, Mathematics, Programming

Tagged
Bolt-ons (programming), Featured, Legacy code, Mathematics symbols, Pythagorean theorem, Refactoring (programming)}

To Fix Math Education, See It as a Program That Needs an Update

_{As a computer programmer, I’ve seen this problem in my work: The basic idea is still sound but “fixes” have made it too complex} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 26, 2020

6

Education, Mathematics, Programming}

In this series we are looking at ways that math education can be reformed. In contrast to some other math reform efforts, we are not trying to fundamentally rewrite what math education is doing but to simply admit that we can do better and see where that takes us. (See Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.) Here in Part 4, let’s look at specific content issues that, I will argue, we could improve when we do a curriculum revision. Mathematics is an old subject. We have inherited quite a bit of mathematical thought. We must educate future generations so as to make sure that this hard-won knowledge is not lost. But one of the biggest impediments to our task Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 25, 2020

Categorized
Education, Mathematics, Work

Tagged
Careers, Featured, Logical skills, Motivation, Prime components, reason, Reasoning tools}

Helping Students See How Math Benefits Them in the Long Run

_{To keep them motivated, we need to answer the “Why bother?” question honestly and directly} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 25, 2020

5

Education, Mathematics, Work}

In this series we are looking at ways that math education can be reformed. In contrast to some other math reform efforts, we are not trying to fundamentally rewrite what math education is doing but to simply admit that we can do better and see where that takes us. (See Part 1 and Part 2.) Here in Part 3, we will concentrate on making the curriculum more “conscious” of what students are supposed to be learning in mathematics. One of the primary complaints students have about higher mathematics is that they don’t see where they are going to use the information later in their jobs. There are a number of ways of answering this question but first I want to Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 24, 2020

Categorized
Education, Mathematics

Tagged
Arithmetic, Common Core math, Dyslexia, Featured, Math curriculum goals, Mathematical ability (in students)}

Straight Talk About Fitting the Math Curriculum to the Student

_{We need to avoid pushing too much too soon, lest students come to see themselves as “bad at math” when they are just not ready for it} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 24, 2020

6

Education, Mathematics}

In this series we are looking at ways that math education can be reformed (Part 1 here). In contrast to some other math reform efforts, we are not trying to fundamentally rewrite what math education is doing but to simply admit that we can do better and see where that takes us. This article, Part 2, will concentrate on improving math education by better identifying where students are when we encounter them. Mathematics curriculum is generally developed with a goal of “fitting it all in.” That is, educators assume that people learn at a relatively fixed pace. They then pace the lessons so as to fit all of them into the curriculum in the right amount of time. However, this Read More ›

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
November 23, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Mathematics

Tagged
Andrew Capron, Dot-com bubble, Featured, Francis Galton, Jack Treynor, Jelly bean experiment, Marcus Lee, Planet Money (radio), South Sea Bubble, Statistics, Steve Jobs, Tulip Bubble, Warren Buffett, Wisdom of Crowds (book)}

The Wisdom of Crowds: Are Crowds Really Wiser Than Individuals?

_{According to the theory, with a large number of guessers, the median number is very likely to be close to the true value} _{Gary Smith

November 23, 2020

9

Business and Finance, Economics, Mathematics}

Statistician Sir Francis Galton went to a country fair in 1907 where a prize was to be awarded to the person who made the most accurate guess of the butchered weight of an ox that was on display. Galton collected and analyzed the 787 guesses and, not surprisingly, found that some guesses were far too high and others were much too low. However, the average guess (1,197 pounds) was only 1 pound lower than the actual weight (1,198 pounds). The average was more accurate than the guesses of the vast majority of both the amateurs and the experts. In the 1980s, a finance professor named Jack Treynor (1930–2016) performed a similar, and now legendary, experiment with jelly beans. Professor Treynor Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 23, 2020

Categorized
Education, Mathematics

Tagged
Featured, Mathematics education reform}

How Can We Really Fix the Way Math Is Taught?

_{First, we must understand why we teach math in the first place} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 23, 2020

4

Education, Mathematics}

Many people recognize that there are problems with modern mathematics curricula. However, the solutions proposed by current would-be math reformers are, I fear, worse than the cure. Some reformers want to stop having kids memorize their arithmetic facts, some want kids to just use computers to solve their problems, others think that the way we teach mathematics is racist, and still others seem to want to just greatly reduce the quantity of math education altogether. In this first part of a four-part series of short posts, I want to look at the most basic question: Why do we teach math? Earlier this month, an article by Yoree Koh in the Wall Street Journal took a look at the “Movement to Read More ›

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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
October 5, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics, Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Bird intelligence, Featured, Ivan Pavlov, Marilyn vos Savant, Monty Hall, Monty Hall Problem, Monty Hall Problem analysis, Paul Erdős, Pigeons}

Pigeons Can Solve the Monty Hall Problem. But Can You?

_{The dilemma pits human folk intuition against actual probability theory, with surprising results} _{Robert J. Marks

October 5, 2020

6

Mathematics, Natural Intelligence}

Animals often outperform humans. My son’s dog is more friendly than I could ever be. Cheetahs run faster, baby horses walk earlier, and elephants can lift more. Birds fly and humans can’t. Is there anything else birds can do better than humans? Yes. Apparently, pigeons learn to solve the Monty Hall problem more quickly. Let’s Make a Deal was a television game show first hosted by Monty Hall (1921–2017) in 1963. There have been various remakes since then. The basic idea is that there are three doors and a contestant’s job is to barter with Monty for the most valuable prize behind the doors. The Monty Hall problem, loosely based on the quiz show, was popularized by Marilyn vos Savant Read More ›

Girl business woman sitting at a wooden table with a laptop and discussing a new project with her mentor boss teacher. The man is fooling around. New business development concept

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
September 24, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Featured, Intelligence quotient (IQ), IQ, marriage, Regression toward the mean, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Spouses, Statistics}

Why Intelligent Women Marry Less Intelligent Men

_{Are they trying to avoid competition at home as well as at work? Or is there a statistical reason we are overlooking?} _{Gary Smith

September 24, 2020

7

Mathematics}

When I read that Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s late husband was a wonderful man but less accomplished than his wife, I was reminded of “Ivy,” one of the most impressive students I ever had the privilege to teach. Ivy excelled in her coursework, won a prestigious scholarship for postgraduate study in England, went to a top-five law school, clerked for a Supreme Court Justice, and is now a law professor at a great university. Like Ruth Ginsberg (1933–2020, pictured), Ivy married a man who is very nice but less intelligent than she. This is not an unusual situation. I made a list of the dozen most intelligent female students with whom I’ve kept in touch over the years. These women are Read More ›

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post

Author
Gary Smith and Jay Cordes
Date
August 17, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics

Tagged
Cancer (causes), Electromagnetic fields (EMFs), Featured, Klaus Teuber, Power lines, Probability, Settlers of Catan (board game), Statistics}

In Science, We Can’t Just “Settle” for Data Clusters

_{The board game, Settlers of Catan, offers a clear illustration of what can go wrong when we are duped by data clusters} _{Gary Smith and Jay Cordes

August 17, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics}

Settlers of Catan is an incredible board game created by Klaus Teuber, a German game designer. It has been translated into dozens of languages and tens of millions of sets have been sold. The basic four-player board consists of 19 hexagons (hexes) representing resources: 3 brick, 4 lumber, 4 wool, 4 grain, 3 ore, and 1 desert. Players acquire and use resources based on dice rolls, card draws, trading, and the location of their settlements and cities. Part of the game’s seductive appeal is that there are many, many ways to arrange the 19 hexagons and successful strategies depend on how the hexagons are arranged. The rules are simple but winning strategies are complex and elusive. The official rules of Read More ›

tropical hurricane approaching the USA.Elements of this image are furnished by NASA.

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
August 10, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Featured, Hurricane Bill, Hurricane names, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricanes, Juanita Kreps, Roxcy Bolton}

Female Hurricanes: How A Mass of Hot Air Became a Zombie Study

_{When a reporter first asked me about a study claiming that “Female Hurricanes are Deadlier than Male Hurricanes,” I was skeptical} _{Gary Smith

August 10, 2020

7

Mathematics}

It is once again hurricane season on the East Coast and social media are reliably abuzz with reports of a debunked study that claimed that hurricanes given feminine-sounding names are deadlier than those given masculine-sounding names. (Full disclosure: I was one of the debunkers.) When a reporter initially asked me about this study, titled “Female Hurricanes are Deadlier than Male Hurricanes,” I was skeptical. Hurricane names alternate between female and male on a schedule set before the hurricane season begins so any relationship between name and death toll was surely coincidental. I looked at the study and discovered that the authors were not arguing that female hurricanes are inherently deadlier but that sexist humans die because they don’t take female Read More ›

man riding on self balancing board graffiti

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
July 13, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Alan Lichtman, Data Mining, Donald Trump, Elections, Featured, Helmut Norpoth, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, John von Neumann, Merlin Heidemanns, Overfitting data, predictions}

Election Models: Predicting the Past is Easy — and Useless

_{You can seldom see where you are going by looking in a rear-view mirror} _{Gary Smith

July 13, 2020

8

Mathematics}

I told my students that I had a model that predicted the popular vote for the the last ten presidential elections (1980–2016) perfectly. Read More ›

Groupe de Bonobos autour d'un hôtel à insectes

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post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
July 12, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
___longform, Abstractions, Animal Intelligence, Bonobos, Designators, Featured, Gay A. Bradshaw, Language, Mathematics, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, symbols}

Can Animal Minds Rival Humans Under the Right Circumstances?

_{Are we just not being fair to animals, as some researchers think?} _{Michael Egnor

July 12, 2020

8

Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

In 2007, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a psychologist and primatologist , published a paper in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science with a remarkable citation: Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Kanzi Wamba, Panbanisha Wamba, and Nyota Wamba, “Welfare of Apes in Captive Environments: Comments on, and by, a Specific Group of Apes,” Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 10:1 (2007): 7–19. What is remarkable about the paper is not the text but the authorship statement. Kanzi, Panbanisha, and Nyota Wamba are not co-author colleagues—they’re apes, bonobos to be specific. Dr. Savage-Rumbaugh (right) is a controversial scientist who believes that animals have intellectual powers that can, under the right circumstances, rival the human intellect. She included her ape subjects as co-authors on the paper because Read More ›

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post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
June 29, 2020

Categorized
Information Theory, Mathematics

Tagged
Conservation of Information (COI), Featured, John Bell, Robert J. Marks, William Dembski}

Why is Bell’s Theorem Important for Conservation of Information?

_{Proving a negative is difficult. Demonstrating that there are no leafy green crows is hard to do without examining every crow. But there's another way.} _{Eric Holloway

June 29, 2020

4

Information Theory, Mathematics}

Proving a negative is difficult. Think about it. For example, demonstrating that there are no leafy green crows is hard to do without exhaustively examining every crow in existence. On the other hand, proving there are no crows naturally emblazoned with the text of the King James Bible is a bit easier to do. Proving a negative is possible if the extremes are large enough. Such as result is known as a no-go theorem. One of the most profound no-go theorems can be found in quantum physics. Physicist John Bell (1928–1990) proved — entirely from first principles — that there is a fundamental difference between how particles interact classically compared with how they interact within quantum physics. In classical physics, Read More ›

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post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 4, 2020

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Mathematics

Tagged
Big Bang Theory (sitcom), Cantor’s theory of the infinite, Featured, Max Tegmark, Multiverse}

Is Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Right re the Multiverse?

_{Sheldon Cooper insists that in no universe would he dance with Penny} _{Robert J. Marks

June 4, 2020

6

Arts & Culture, Mathematics}

A collection of universes is called a multiverse. If there are enough universes in a multiverse, can almost anything happen? No. Common models of the universe aren’t big enough. The argument that anything can happen in a multiverse is nicely presented in a 2011 scene in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019) involving consummate nerd Sheldon Cooper and Penny, the girl next door (here). Penny: Morning, Sheldon! Come dance with me! Sheldon: No. Penny: Why not? Sheldon: While I subscribe to the Many Worlds theory, which posits the existence of an infinite number of Sheldons in an infinite number of universes, I assure you that in none of them I am dancing. Penny: Are you fun in any of Read More ›