Mathematical Thought

It's been just over 3 years since I've taken a mathematics course here at Harding. I took Calc 1 my freshman year. Actually, I started out in Calc 2 until I realized that I still had a lot more foundational stuff that I needed in order to be able to pass that class. So, rather than try and kill myself, I opted for the easy way out--retake calculus 1. I regret being such a slacker in that class. It was at 7:45AM Monday through Thursday with Dr. Thompson. I made an "A" in that class even though I probably didn't merit one. I think the only weeks that I went to class all four days were the first week and the last one. (If you read this: I'm sorry Dr Thompson. I liked you, and I liked your class, it was just way too early in the morning for me. I did study though and it paid off I think. ) That said, I had a brain rush of everything mathematical this week during class. For a moment I remembered all the crazy stuff I had learned. I like math and can be a logical nerd at times even though I'm a Bible major! Sometimes numbers just fit together even though I'm not quite sure how or why. In class on Wednesday, Dr Priest came and talked to us about Math. Pure and Simple Mathematics. Well pure anyway, I'm not sure how simple some of it was. Here's some random stuff for you to ponder over:

4. Math is SALT! Use it to season up your conversation.
Math is a science- Benjamin Peirce called math "the science that draws necessary conclusions". Without math, nothing we can do today would be possible. The science behind this webpage is based on mathematics. The room that I live in is squared off (mostly, I do still live on campus) and is based on mathematics.
Math as an Art- 2 words- Mandelbrot Set Enough Said

Math as language:



Again, only an image will work here. I'm also a Spanish major, so in writing this out, one can see the beauty of language behind it. It takes study to be able to read mathematics. (img is the fundamental equation of calculus)
Finally, math as a Tool: This is probably the most common use of mathematics that we use today. We use math as a means to do what we want.

3. In searching for those images above, I came across the
Wikipedia article on Math. Towards the bottom it talked about how some mathematicians thought of themselves as philosophers and others as scientists. The basic difference was whether they believed math to be created (art-philosophy) or discovered (science). Math and Philosophy share the common search of trying to know. They seek to use what they have around them and use them for more knowledge about life.

8. Do we place too much value on statistics? All my life my mother has said to me, "Statistics prove this" or "Statistics show that". I heard a joke once that 78.9% of all statistics are made up on the spot. I'm really getting tired of writing, so I'll close with this. Yes, we place too much emphasis on statistics. We live our lives based on probability.

This Class

Well it's the start of week number 2 in the semester and it's time to start getting into this blogging thing. Picklesimer asked us to talk about the first week of our class, and so I thought I would go to the course catalog and start off with a description of the course:

The Human Situation III: The Physical World. Issues of nature, physical science, health, technology, ecology and mathematics. Course content varies.

If only the designers of the catalog knew how much we were really going to cover in our class. I wish it were more possible to explain the contents of this class to future honors students, but they'll have to make do with the above description, at least for now.

I really like the setup of the class. We've got a fairly diverse group of people covering about every field of study on campus. Eventually I'll get around to putting their links over here on the right sidebar, but I don't have them yet, so you'll have to be patient. Also, I'm really glad we don't have desks in the class. It makes me feel a little vulnerable without something there, and I'd feel better knowing the others feel that way too, but we'll see :)

I'm looking forward to some of the topics in the class. The ones on technology fascinate me the most. I've been a techno-geek for as long as I can remember, and working for dormnet and having other geeks around me just fuels my desire to have cool gadgets and talk nerdy. I'm also looking forward to the sections on Christian ethics. I've never had a class that's willing to talk about ethics. As a Bible major, i've had the obligitory classes that talk about how to conduct yourself as a minister and situations surrounding ministry, but never anything that talks about our views on certain subjects through the lens of Christianity.

I wasn't going to do this, but I wanted to post this question that was suggested to us to post about:

• Which is more important: the destination or the journey? Can the destination be the journey?

I'm not going to answer now, and I may come back and answer it in a later post. For now, I will say that I am looking forward to the journey through this class and no matter where the destination is, I feel that we won't be able to come through this class unchanged.

New beginning again

Well, I tried this last year at about this time and it completely flopped. This year I do intend to keep my blog updated. I do this partially because of class, but I want to get back into writing as well. I'll have more to say later. It's late though and I want to go to bed.