My Philosophy of Math
Math, to me, can be such a powerful thing. It is all around us, and getting to know it a bit will help explain many things in our everyday lives. When used correctly, it can bring ideas together to form full understandings of concepts and objects, or it can show people things they never thought to be possible. In my life, I ask questions such as “Why?” and “How?” and math does the best job of giving me those answers. Numbers alone can hold great emotion, such as the fact that 99.9999% of every atom is empty space. If you think about that for a minute, it seems like we're made from almost nothing! It's a crazy, but true, and if you look further, you will find other mind opening facts about what everything is and why things are the way they are.
Other numbers can show the beauty of math, such as Euler's Identity (eπi + 1 = 0). It takes five fundamental numbers in math and combines them to form the perfect, and true, equation. The beauty is not just in the numbers, for it is also in the world around us. Nature is where this math can be found and applied, and it is truly the essence of math. Seeing a Fibonacci Spiral in the seeds of a sunflower is a clear indicator that math is present in nature. The setting sun is another good example of math that shows how different frequencies of light can be diffracted in the atmosphere to form a sunset. This appreciation of math comes from a firm practice of crunching numbers and doing the math itself.
In order to appreciate the big, one must start with the small. In every person's life on this planet, they do math every day, whether they think they are or not. Telling time is a great example of something everyone does, and the concept of time would not be possible without the math to back it up. Such a simple thing can be expanded to calculating the effects of different gravitational forces on the space-time fabric. So whether you're figuring out how long it takes until your train arrives or trying to find out how long the train ride will be based on speed and mileage, everyone does math. Nurses need to be able to measure medication dosages. Carpenters need to know how much lumber they will need to build a house. Meteorologists need to be able to predict the weather based on patterns they have seen before. Since there is all this math out there, it is my firm belief that every person should give it their best effort to try and learn it, be aware of it, and eventually embrace it, as I try to. This philosophy is not just saying that math is everywhere you look; so you should accept it; it says that we should also use it as a tool to become conscious of the vast world around us. The realm of mathematics has much to offer, and new things are being discovered every day because of it. According to this philosophy, the more math we know, the farther we will get in life, and the farther we will go as a civilization.
Other numbers can show the beauty of math, such as Euler's Identity (eπi + 1 = 0). It takes five fundamental numbers in math and combines them to form the perfect, and true, equation. The beauty is not just in the numbers, for it is also in the world around us. Nature is where this math can be found and applied, and it is truly the essence of math. Seeing a Fibonacci Spiral in the seeds of a sunflower is a clear indicator that math is present in nature. The setting sun is another good example of math that shows how different frequencies of light can be diffracted in the atmosphere to form a sunset. This appreciation of math comes from a firm practice of crunching numbers and doing the math itself.
In order to appreciate the big, one must start with the small. In every person's life on this planet, they do math every day, whether they think they are or not. Telling time is a great example of something everyone does, and the concept of time would not be possible without the math to back it up. Such a simple thing can be expanded to calculating the effects of different gravitational forces on the space-time fabric. So whether you're figuring out how long it takes until your train arrives or trying to find out how long the train ride will be based on speed and mileage, everyone does math. Nurses need to be able to measure medication dosages. Carpenters need to know how much lumber they will need to build a house. Meteorologists need to be able to predict the weather based on patterns they have seen before. Since there is all this math out there, it is my firm belief that every person should give it their best effort to try and learn it, be aware of it, and eventually embrace it, as I try to. This philosophy is not just saying that math is everywhere you look; so you should accept it; it says that we should also use it as a tool to become conscious of the vast world around us. The realm of mathematics has much to offer, and new things are being discovered every day because of it. According to this philosophy, the more math we know, the farther we will get in life, and the farther we will go as a civilization.