Quote:
Originally posted by Azred:
quote:
Originally posted by SpiritWarrior:
I once put the same question to a teacher of mine and his answer was "It expands the mind". I accepted that at the time but given further years of experience and thought I have come to the conclusion that it does not. Maths is simply memorization and application. It does nothing to broaden the mind...the memory yes but not the mind.
|
My question is "why haven't you broadened you mind yet?"
I don't know if you study martial arts, but if you do then you know that when you are first starting that all you are really doing is memorization: hold your hand/wrist this way when punching, keep your toes curled back when kicking, the sequence of moves in the basic kata, etc. As you progress you understand more of the true nature of the moves you are doing and they become instinctive and natural.
This same process occurs with mathematics (or any topic of study)--the basics like the soltution of the general quadratic equation must be memorized; only after you reach a certain point do you begin to understand what the solution really means and how to apply it more generally.
Memorization has its place in learning. The true key to learning and understanding is when you are able to apply what you have memorized to more general problems/situations. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]For martial arts this is true. There is a practical method in the application of what you memorize. This thread however argues whether higher mathematics has a practical application in everyday life. The answer, for most people is no.