Debunking the Hierarchy of Mathematics

[Iridescence]

I picked up this book... Beyond Numeracy Ruminations of a Numbers Man Really, it is interesting but I cannot seem to ever read from cover to cover and gain the intended depths meant to be retrieved without having others to bounce thoughts off of.

Sometimes... the internet seems to be more of sounding board for many instead of a living... dwelling... spirit board full of return.

Anyways.

John Allen Paulos points out some fascinatingly interesting things about mathematics... And one of the most profoundly provoking thoughts he puts forward is that "Often very 'advanced' mathematical ideas are more intuitive and comprehensible than are certain areas of elementary algebra."

So, um, doesn't this prove mathematics to be immensely more spiritual than it having ever been recognized by most? Isn't this the potential flaw and, most likely, the largest stumbling block in which prevents many from developing their own understanding of it?

The initial allure of the book, which leads to my (as a reader) crushing majorly on the author, is that he readily debunks the hierarchy we are so educated to be influenced by. It is as though we are set up to fail in many areas of our lives because of this...

Our psychological patternizations, our spiritual discernment, our potential highest of achievements, without question, may very well be what has been the price of our misconceptions.

There is a great deal more to 'numbers'... and time... and such than appearances alone allow for us to comprehend if we are without technological advancements, accordingly. There is obviously a much larger system at work that we must be consistently gainful toward fulfilling in order to better develop our intended understanding.

An important mention would perhaps be that the deeper one goes into this level of reasoning... the more one will likely come to appreciate unpredictable variations.

 

[Sunni Man]

Yes, numbers do have a connection with the divine and the universe as a whole.

It can be seen every where that we look.

But, a person has to take the time to observe and see what is hidden in plain sight all around us.

 

[Iridescence]

baby steps...

 

[Sunni Man]

A book that I found fascinating is Charles Sefie's "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea"

It deals with the philosophic and metaphysical use of the number called "Zero"

The use of Zero caused a 1000 year religious and cultural debate within every society that came in contact with this radical new idea.

 

[Iridescence]

Sunni, that is a fascinating concept... but the take on everything being nothing, it is quite the opposite that I have seen, that every thing, within all their powers and glories have counter parts in necessary equality but not necessarily in same order, fashion, quantities... Hence, it all may come 'back' to zero but it is because of the 'cancelling out' of one to and of another... that makes it perfectly so. Why the unpredictable variations? To only prove that flaws are the beautifying aids to perfection, perhaps.

It is all vain... and life a vapor? Um, well, that only makes it all the more precious and meaningful on many levels. *hearts*

 

[Sunni Man]

The use of Zero is not a negative nor should it be seen as such.

All systems in the universe seek equilibrium and balance.

Zero represents that condition between positive and negative.

And allows numbers to flow in higher mathematics from seen to unseen and back again.

Zero nether takes away or adds.

It only enhances what is already there by being nothing.

 

[Iridescence]

Or everything... exactly...

 

[Amelia]

The problem with inviting the uninitiated to move freely about the hierarchy is that while much of higher mathematics is intuitive, much is counterintuitive, and learning to tell which is true is difficult. One must build line upon line to know which path is true.

Of course one can visit if one has a guide one trusts. Paulos is a good guide.

 

[Iridescence]

So true on many levels, Amelia, but there are many different kinds of guides... and authors represent 'one kind'.

Paulos is fascinating, as many authors are who write in such depths. When I go through books, it may be my secret, but I aim to know the author better. There are levels of authors... and after so many books by the same author, they tend to reveal much more of themselves than most amateur readers may realize. This is perhaps part of 'the why' for so many centuries only the priests and hierarchy from within the churches were literate, even.

WHO wrote what from and by what measures of how...