Is Mathematics destroying our imagination?
409098
Someone has described our times as "the reign of quantity", and that's true... it's up to us to bring back a quality, not being conditioned by the tendencies of a degeneration (in fact I'm sure that also mathematics as we study it today is quite a degeneration compared with the times when it was one of the sciences of the "quadrivium")
212269
My thoughts on this, however crazy they may be, are as follows:\n\nWe only use a fraction of our brains for everyday thinking. Science has proved this. So what is the rest of it being used for? We have a vast subconscious mind that is capable of processing more information than the worlds largest supercomputer! Therefore, since our dreams come from our subconscious minds (way deep down in the back) they are far more capable of being truthful than our everyday thoughts. I think deep down, we all know the entire history of the universe but our brains are wired for everyday ignorance so that we can function properly and not compete with God.\n\nI know, it's crazy but that's how I explain it...
215108
Good question but I have to say that messing with the universe is rather impulsive and risky. Perhaps we should look to simpler projects like over population or world peace?\n\n*wink*
298891
Everything can be mathematically based, so I would have to say the advantages of knowing mathematics totally outweighs the disadvantages of learning it.\n\nHistory\nMain article: History of mathematics \nThe evolution of mathematics might be seen to be an ever-increasing series of abstractions, or alternatively an expansion of subject matter. The first abstraction was probably that of numbers. The realization that two apples and two oranges have something in common, namely that they fill the hands of exactly one person, was a breakthrough in human thought. In addition to recognizing how to count concrete objects, prehistoric peoples also recognized how to count abstract quantities, like time -- days, seasons, years. Arithmetic (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), naturally followed. Monolithic monuments testify to a knowledge of geometry.\n\nFurther steps need writing or some other system for recording numbers such as tallies or the knotted strings called khipu used by the Inca empire to store numerical data. Numeral systems have been many and diverse.\n\nFrom the beginnings of recorded history, the major disciplines within mathematics arose out of the need to do calculations on taxation and commerce, to understand the relationships among numbers, to measure land, and to predict astronomical events. These needs can be roughly related to the broad subdivision of mathematics, into the studies of quantity, structure, space, and change.\n\nMathematics since has been much extended, and there has been a fruitful interaction between mathematics and science, to the benefit of both.\n\nMathematical discoveries have been made throughout history and continue to be made today. According to Mikhail B. Sevryuk, in the January 2006 issue of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, "The number of papers and books included in the Mathematical Reviews database since 1940 (the first year of operation of MR) is now more than 1.9 million, and more than 75 thousand items are added to the database each year. The overwhelming majority of works in this ocean contain new mathematical theorems and their proof."
486183
I find it to be quite fascinating.  Although mind-bending as well (11 dimensions - my brain hurts just thinking about it).  I don't know if it is correct or not (well, no one knows for sure), but it seems to have potential, particularly with resolving the Relativity/Quantum Physics battle.
883677
I do those things in maths, but I have no choice!!!!!!!  I sometimes draw shapes if I get bored in lessons, cos then you make all the shapes crossover, and colour it all in random colours, its soo cool, and really passes time!\n\nAge: 14        Profession: GCSE Student       Mission: Fall asleep in maths without anyone noticing! (I hav perfected open eye dreaming!)
64878
Don't overlook the fact that numbers are entirely an artifice.  Mathematics is not a 'natural' science, such as physics.  It is a contrivance, a tool used to understand the physical world.
630873
The Imagination of Imagery
621469
Astronomy is  impossible without mathematics.\nOtherwise, all you have is visuals
143358
Your mind and your imagination.
227753
You are not alone..I see math as a hobby:)
1155503
No. We just don't understand how this one works, so we invent mathematical universes to fill in the time until we figure out this one. It distracts the natives while we steal their oil.
112402
That's untrue.  Quite in fact, the absence of the zero stifled the advancement of mathematics in the west for a long time.  Zero is a number of fundamental importance.\n\nI don't know where you're getting your info.  Perhaps someone got an award from some group of idiots that thought he was being clever, but zero is far, far, far, far, far from being nonsense.\n\nSomeone is jerking your chain, bro.  Give up onit already.  You need to recognize that you were duped and move on.
187679
Dude, no offence but hmm what? not to sound like an a-hole but maybe you should think about getting a hobby. That isn't maths...just a thought....
96834
Honestly - it is not.  The deal with math is that you have to take the time to work through problems so that you can see different applications of what you learn and get more experience solving them.  Like most things, practice makes perfect!
368062
Firstly look at all the different engineering feats that men has ever engaged in - for example your desk, the home you live in, lights, cars, highways, computers, TV, Internet, commerical planes, ipod etc - everything is related to mathematics!\n\nWhile eating your meal think about this, how would a chef be able to cook that delicious dish without the use of mathematical principles of proportion.\n\nThe designer clothes that you are currently wearing, how would the designer be able to create such clothes without the help of mathematical measuring instruments.\n\nThe back engine of any business enterprise is mathematics! Without a sound mathematical business strategy, business can go bankrupt overnight!\n\nAnd the list goes on! \n\nSorry to say, but i think you had a very lousy Mathematics Teacher!
223978
It depends on YOU and what you do with it.\n\nThe human race got along quite nicely without algebra or complex mathematics for countless generations.  Yet they died when they were forty and they (mostly) spent thier lives in gruesome toil and mind numbing boredom.  \n\nAlgebra and other mathematics (in my opinion) are almost worthless without apllication.  PHYSICS is the class you want...its the class where you "stick" mathematics on the real world. (I just so happen to teach Physics & Chemistry)\n\nWithout mathematics, you wouldnt have the scientific advances that your are so used to today.  Think of it...almost everything around you is engineered (except possibly the air your breathe).  Anything that has to be engineered MUST be mathemetized.  Think of the computer drafting, the physics calculations and the economic analysis that is required to bring a product to you (I-Pods, water you drink, Toilet Paper...ect)\n\nYes, You can happily spend your life without Algebra or the other Mathematical disciplines; but you will be powerless to understand (and CONTROL) the modern engineered world that you live in.\n\nRember this: Mathematics is the backbone of Science and Engineering.  You may not see this yet, but its true.  Without it, we would not have any of the power we have to live longer and effect change in our world.