Egshiglen Erdenebat

11D ToK Mr. Bonzi

Assignment Week 7
2020.02.22

To what extent is mathematical knowledge "universal?"

There are thousands of languages in the world today. Besides English, you might already speak Mongolia
and you know that different countries speak their own languages. But within a country, there can still be
tribes in remote areas that speak a language of their own. As we know, mathematics does not have a
clearly defined, universally accepted definition but we may say that it is simply the study of the
interaction between quantities, variables, structure, and change. In short, mathematics is how we study
and get to know more about the world we live in. Mathematics is not a tangible thing, but actually an
abstract concept. We all know that no matter where we are or what language we speak, 2 + 2 will always
equal four and Pi is always approximately 3.14. Therefore, at some point we may say that math is the
only language that is shared by all civilizations regardless of culture, religion, or gender. There are a great
many ways of expressing mathematics; the one we are probably most familiar with is the base ten Arabic
format. Despite the basic, overall, right now we should know about two ways to represent numbers, as
Roman numerals and as Arabic numbers. Furthermore, people in some other countries use different
symbols for numbers. You may ask “With all these different symbols, how can math be a universal
language? “ Math is a universal language because the principles and foundations of math are the same
everywhere around the world. As I mentioned at the beginning, ten plus ten equals twenty if you write it
as Arabic numerals 10 + 10 = 20 or Roman numerals X + X = XX. The concept of 20 items is the same
no matter where you are in the world. The base, the symbols, the structure, and the methods used to
express mathematics can all be radically different and yet, it is still mathematics. Other civilizations have
made other ways of expressing mathematics, and if we ever run into alien intelligence, it is likely that
they will use a different system than we do. However, right here in our small world and to our limited
present intelligence, we may say that mathematics is a universal language for us.

Does belief play a role in mathematics?

A belief is an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof. In short,
mathematics is an abstract study of numbers and quantities that help us to understand the world
around us. In my opinion, belief doesn’t play a big role in mathematics because the concepts of
mathematics are proven and is based on real life situation. So although belief may take some place in
the procedure of studying mathematics, on general, mathematics doesn’t need people to believe in the
theories and concepts of it in order to be accepted because mathematics is based on entire proof.
Does mathematics need language to be understood?

In my opinion, mathematics is a language on its own. It communicates through numbers and symbols
while language communicates through words. Mathematics is a weak language but on the other hand, it
has its strong sides. The reason why I called math a weak language is because math doesn’t stand as a
whole language on its own. Though it can be understood by only its elements in written, when we
communicate orally, mathematics requires words from other languages to be fully understood. All the
languages contain mathematics just like how mathematics need other languages to be understood. The
reason why I said mathematics is strong language at some point is because it is not only language but it
is an universal language. As I mentioned above, all the languages contain mathematics.