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That's exactly it! I'm sure there are extremely talented 'visual' thinkers who just can't grasp standard mathematical symbology. But is their mathematical abili
by fractallyte 6y ago
That's exactly it! I'm sure there are extremely talented 'visual' thinkers who just can't grasp standard mathematical symbology. But is their mathematical ability in any way diminished by this?
Bees make hexagonal combs. Bower birds weave elaborate, decorative structures to attract mates. And spiders and their webs!
Now that we have the tools, it's time to attract those visual/tactile thinkers who don't even realize that they're natural mathematicians...
- walleeee 6y ago> Bees make hexagonal combs. I can't speak to the birds or spiders, but hexagon packing in combs can be explained without endowing bees with mathematical reasoning. It's a geometrically efficient structure that they've likely happened upon as a result of collective behavior (large numbers of bees constructing adjacent cells simultaneously). Check out Philip Ball's Shapes for a detailed account of the "accidental" emergence of many complex natural structures.