Thread

1. thaumasiotes · 1789802936 · focus · HN ↗

   Interesting headline.

   It's interesting because, as far as I'm aware, the vast majority of people already believe that math is more than proof. A slightly smaller but still very large majority don't even include proofs in their mental concept of what math involves.

   1. Terr_ · 1789803839 · focus · HN ↗

      > don't even include proofs in their mental concept of what math involves

      Technically, the largest majority are the people who go: "What are proofs?" :P

   2. the_af · 1789807850 · focus · HN ↗

      A majority? I doubt it, simply because the majority doesn't know what math is at all.

      At university level introductory calculus, the person teaching class had to reassure students that math wasn't entirely arithmetic or adding up numbers. He did this because it's a common misunderstanding.

      1. thaumasiotes · 1789809601 · focus · HN ↗

         So, you disagree with my comment because you think I'm right?

         Those students he was reassuring, did they think math was nothing but proofs?

         1. the_af · 1789810524 · focus · HN ↗

            Haha, sort of. I guess I disagree with your claim the majority of people think math is "more" than proof. The majority of people think it's less: they think it's doing high school arithmetic. Most people don't know what a proof or a theorem are. They think math is doing calculations with numbers.

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