Ancestral Genres of Mathematical Graphs

This articles draws inspiring connections between Math and the world around us. I found this piece to be a great motivating factor for changing the attitude of general public toward Mathematics. It allows us to see Math above and beyond numbers, and calculations.

While reading this article, I stopped at a few places including the following:

“Mathematics is a system of human interpretation of the world and has human qualities inextricably woven into its very nature.” (p. 14). I found this perspective unique, as Math is usually thought of as something that’s abstract, dry, and boring. The terms ‘human qualities’ caught my attention and I found myself asking questions like:

Can Math be flexible? Can it help reform the society?

Similarly, the description of graphs in the Cartesian plane as having their bases in “fundamental human metaphors of up and down, horizontality and verticality that come from embodied experiences of the world” is intriguing (p. 15). I found the metaphors familiar, as they are seen as the standards the society sets and maintains, yet I paused and said to myself ‘No, I disagree with the societal definition of what’s “up” and what’s “down”’. For instance, “rational is up and emotional is down” is no surprise, as that’s the way the society has been. However, I want to take this opportunity and challenge the notion that emotions are bad. Emotions that are bad are bad, e.g. hatred. Being emotional is ‘down’ only when emotions are not balanced or left unguided. To me, emotions are amongst the most beautiful aspects of human life. They are what make us human. For example, love and hate are the strongest human emotions, yet they both have the tendency and potential to turn impossible possible.

Lastly, the table displaying equivalences/connections between human bodies, houses, cosmos, and graphs is absolutely new to me. These connections are convincing, and remind me of the definition of Math as ‘human thought’ and interpretation mentioned in the beginning of the article. The culture we grow up in is usually integrated in us, and make us who we are, just like our bodies define us. Thinking of Math as ‘human interpretation of the world’, culture, physical human body, and cosmo being in acquaintance with graphing is rational.