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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Are Logic And Math Relevant To Social Debates?, Michael A. Lewis Jan 2020

Are Logic And Math Relevant To Social Debates?, Michael A. Lewis

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Social debates, as well as discussions about certain highly charged issues, such as racism, gender identity, and sexuality, usually turn on the uses or mentions of key words. That is, the conclusions we can draw from such discussions depend on how certain terms are used or mentioned in them. Yet participants in social debates may often fail to precisely define their terms or fail to make important distinctions in terms uttered by others. Both logic and mathematics pay attention to the importance of precise definitions when it comes to engaging in discussions, arguments, or proofs. Logic also makes an important …


To Fall In Love With Math, Do This, Susan D'Agostino Jan 2018

To Fall In Love With Math, Do This, Susan D'Agostino

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In the viral New York Times essay, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This,” Mandy Len Catron details an experience she and an acquaintance had as they shared responses to psychologist Arthur Aron’s thirty-six questions intended to make participants fall in love. She notes that, “we all have a narrative of ourselves that we offer up to strangers and acquaintances, but Dr. Aron’s questions make it impossible to rely on that narrative.” In this paper, we claim that we also have narratives of our relationship to mathematics that we offer up to ourselves and others. Following, we offer a …