Chapter 8: What Math Is

Custard

The difficulty of following custard making instructions.

Logic is easy in the same sense that custard making (following instructions
thereof) is difficult.

Logic vs Illogic

Major myth == 'maths is difficult'

definition of easy == it is attainable by logical thought process, without having
to resort to imagination, gut feeling, luck etc. life is hard in that it has
processes not amenable to logic.

Mathematics is Easy (for the right definition of 'easy')

Mathematics is the study of anything that obeys the rules of logic, said study
using logic.

What is mathematics for?

1. to provide a language for
a. making precise statements
b. a system for making clear
2. To idealize concepts so that
studied *simultaneously* by focusing
study.
about concepts,
arguments about them
a diverse range of notions can be compared and
on features common to all concepts under

More simply, mathematics exists to make difficult things easier in 3 ways

1. When our intuition is not strong enough to work things out
2. When there is too much ambiguity, making it impossible to work out what is
what
3. There are too many problems to sort out and not enough time to do it (all)

IMPORTANT: there are many reasons why things are difficult, math does not deal with
*all* sources of difficulty.

Math
1. helps us to construct and understand arguments too difficult for intuition
2. It eliminates ambiguity, enabling us to understand exactly what we are
talking about.
3. cuts corners, answering many questions at the same time, showing that they
are all the same question.

It does all this by abstraction, ruthlessly eliminating things that cause

ambiguity, or are irrelevant to the problem at hand.

Bananas And Blondes - ignoring difficult details.

1 + 1 + 1 = 3 no matter if we are counting bananas, frogs.

2 blondes + 2 brunettes == how many people? we ignore hair color as irrelevant
and get 2 + 2 = 4 people
 the same conditions on my fathers age and mine, and apples in two sacks,
becomes the same set of linear equations.

I am very happy. Will I go bungee jumping? too much ambiguity. So math ignores this
problem.

snooker problem

CRUCIAL: we make things easy (i.e amenable to logical analysis) by ignoring the
things that are hard. Mathematics deals with the bits we *don't* throw away.

If Maths Is Easy, Why Is It So Hard?

There are many ways to make things hard, and many of these 'ways' have been applied
to mathematics.

- no one told you what math is for. Forks are hard to use if you don't know
what it is for, and use it as a knife substitute.
- you have no desire to answer questions that math makes answerable. If you
don't care about triangles, trigonometry is boring.
- processing things with only logic (so no imagination, guesswork, 'creativity'
violence etc) is hard for some people.

The Aim of Ultimate Rationality

Background On Logic

consistency and deductive closure. Unclear example.

Life Is Difficult

Rational Thinking is insufficient to deal with all problems/occasions in life.

Logic Is Too Slow

for many real life situations.

Logic Is Too Methodical

big leaps in life come from flashes of inspiration/intuition.

even in math you need creativity in addition to logic.

Logic Is Too Inflexible

Exist things logic can't deal with.

Logic Is Too Weak

When there isn't enough information.

use probability, instinct, guess,

Logic Is Too Powerful

logic has a brutal power that can force us into extreme positions unless we are
careful.
Subtlety of grays (and other colors) between black and white are lost.
 Fuji's Paradox

Unexpected Hanging

Logic Has No Starting Point

rationality is a sociological notion. what is 'base truth' depends on the society

we live in.
being *aware* of your axioms (for which you do *not* need justification) is a good
thing.

Mathematics Is Not Life

Things exist in life which are outside mathematics and this is fine.