The Mathematical Method

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THIS PART IS KIND OF A RANT, NO NEED TO READ, JUST STUFF I DIDN’T SAY IN CLASS                     (feel free to stumble through my rant if you want to though)

We’re supposed to describe the ‘Mathematical Method’, but I’m not even sure what math is. There’s a part of me that thinks that it’s simply a social construct. One could counter that thought rather easily, because if you thought about math in an extremely one dimensional fashion, math exists, numbers work, and they repeat. Therefore math can’t be a social construct because it exists and developed separately in different cultures. However, we only experience the world in three dimensions, four if you count time, or more because I’m not exactly smart. The thing is, we don’t really understand our world, and it could all be coincidence that math works for us the way it does. That does mean it’s right or true. We could learn one more simple thing about the world, we could learn something about the way math works considering higher dimensions, and our entire system of math going down to one plus one could be wrong.

In class we discussed how in math, things can be proven mathematically and physically. However, we had an extremely flawed discussion about it that really annoyed me. We discussed the idea that triangles can have different sums of angles based on the shape of the plane they’re on. For example, we discussed triangles on spheres. I think the problem was that the people in the class didn’t understand that mathematically, spheres are two-dimensional objects, balls are the ones that are three-dimensional. Someone in class used the idea that if you cut out a triangular piece of pie crust from a curved pie, it’s a three dimensional object and therefore not a triangle, and rather a prism. Therefore, continually proving that the sum of angles on all triangles is 180 degrees? That got me extremely frustrated but I’ve been working on holding my tongue. Anyways, the entire basis of that argument is wrong because the pie crust is three-dimensional, not two dimensional. Also, the idea that a plane must be perfectly flat is kind of frustrating. However, this was a good introduction into the idea of whether there are mathematical ideas that can’t be proven physically, only mathematically.

THIS IS WHERE I ACTUALLY DO MY HOMEWORK

I guess the mathematical method is Euclidean logic, as in the seven books of Euclid that Lincoln took off five years to read and ponder. Based on that assumption (I’m using Euclidean logic here), the mathematical method is the use of known facts, to extrapolate new facts. For example, I know the sky is blue, because my mother told me so, therefore, anything that looks like the sky is also blue. It’s annoying that I never got to study logic in math class in school, we should really put it into the curriculum. However, I still use this in school, it’s how we learn every single subject. Take science, if mixing water and acid results in an exothermic reaction, and I know that exothermic reactions give off energy. We constantly learn things, and put them together to realize new things. In a way, that’s all learning is, and therefore, everything is the mathematical method.

In that way, one could say that the scientific method, is part of the mathematical method. In the way that people argue the natural sciences are branches of math, simply with dimensions, the scientific method is a branch of the mathematical method. The scientific method involved the use of prior knowledge to gain further knowledge. However, at its’ very base the mathematical method doesn’t have an empirical element. Whereas is science, you test theories, making science seem very different than math, and in my opinion, much less concrete. Because of the empirical nature of science, the use of the scientific method involves degrees of certainty, whereas math doesn’t. However, I’m not completely sure where the line between science and math is. Depending on your definition of math, it does have degrees of certainty. In fact the mathematical method could also be something within the scientific method. Often times you have prior knowledge on a subject (knowledge + observation), which leads to a question, which leads to an experiment, data collection, and conclusion. Math also has all of these elements, except the experiment part is usually the process of solving an equation, and the data and conclusion are the answers. That mostly assumes that math is equations and it’s definitely more than that. Still, this illustrates the fact that math and science are so intertwined it’d be impossible to find a proper difference for “strengths and weaknesses”.

The “strengths and weaknesses” of the mathematical and scientific methods boil down to one main thing, truth. They both attempt to find truth in slightly different ways. One could say that the mathematical method is flawed because it makes assumptions, such as “the sky is blue”. However, the scientific method also makes assumptions, if you’re testing the density of two different balls, you don’t question whether they’re balls, or that they’re what you’re actually measuring. In that sense, they’re equal. One could argue that a strength of the scientific method is trials, however it can never find a perfect truth, and it’s always based off of flawed fact, just like the mathematical method. On the other hand, a strength of the mathematical method is that it doesn’t have degrees of certainty and therefore can have perfect truths if you don’t take into account the degrees of certainty of the original truths.

My Culturama MC experience (LO5)

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One day, when I was in class, Dhir asked me to MC for Culturama and I agreed to. Thus started a whirlwind of Culturama madness. One day I was a regular civilian, minding my business, the next I was receiving a barrage of emails with information on who the other MC would be, the needs for the script, and regular updates on new things that the script needed to be. I wasn’t sure how to do it, but Vivian and I were given a deadline to write the script by. Learning outcome five is to “Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively”. We started working together, but from computers in completely separate locations. This gave me a unique view on the benefits and challenges of collaboration. Maybe it wasn’t the best form of collaboration, but we also discussed it at school.

I began to realize that collaboration could decrease workload if done well, enrich the product, and make me learn new ways of thinking about and doing things. I didn’t have to write half the script, which decreased my stress levels a lot. I got feedback on what I wrote, which made me think more about what I wrote and improve it. I also got a bit of a peek into Vivian’s mind and the different ways we could write the script. I had approached it from a very formal and informative standpoint, but Vivian reminded me that scripts can be funny too. Unfortunately, this initial collaboration was a double-edged sword. I didn’t get to write half the script, meaning I had less control over it, I got some negative feedback on things that I still think might’ve worked well, and part of me feels like I got forced into doing a cheesy script. However, it wasn’t only two of us who had an input. In this entire process we were getting emails from a myriad of people who all wanted different things, which really complicated the process, and I think was bad for the script.

When is a joke not a joke?

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Are there any topics which should never be joked about?

I’m not sure because sometimes people joke about things in front of people they shouldn’t. It can normalize racist or offensive thoughts to some of the listeners. Different things are offense to different people. We have to e really careful when we make those types of jokes if you say them in front of people who can be offended by them it’s also your fault.

Does the audience or the content off a joke determine whether it’s appropriate or not?

I think that when you make a joke you have to be careful about who you say it in front of. For example, you can make offensive jokes with your friends, but it isn’t offensive because you’re with friends. However, you can’t make those jokes in front of different people because then it becomes offensive. Certain societies are very homogenous, and that means when people make racist jokes, it may not seem racist, but it may be because it normalizes racist thoughts and is not checked by people of those races. Sometimes people think racial slurs about themselves are ok, and their friends make those jokes, and I think that makes it not as bad.

Can bullying ever be funny?

Miriam doesn’t think bullying can every be funny. I know that my friends kind of fake/real bully me and I find it funny. It’s very offensive, and sometimes it doesn’t always feel good, but joking bullying is only funny with your friends. With these things you really need to check yourself to make sure the person’s okay with it. Miriam tries not to be mean to people because she doesn’t like it when people are mean to her. When you’re with your friends it’s not really bullying. You need to check that the people you’re making these jokes about are okay with it, in which case it isn’t really bullying. Therefore, true bullying can never be funny or okay.

“Joking is part of the healing process” in relation to tragic events. Do you agree?

I think that for me joking is part of the healing process. Like I’ve been really hurt at times and I like making jokes about it. However, making jokes about something that has hurt others or groups of people can be harder to decide whether it’s wrong. You want to be really careful about offending people with stuff like this. Joking about tragedy can help you feel better, but you need to be careful about who you’re hurting. You don’t want to trigger people or something.

 

 

The End of Cross Country (LO2)

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There was only one season of Cross Country, but I went to two practices every week, and I ended up going to the ACSIS meet on the 31st of October. I did not place well in the race, but it was very encouraging because I had finished the five kilometers and I accomplished a lot. I know that I improved during the season, and I really challenged myself with continual repetitive activity. In addition, the girls team got second place, and that was very encouraging, because while I may not have contributed to the score, I still felt like I was part of something. The second learning outcome for CAS is to “Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.”. I think the first part of this post effectively demonstrates the challenges, but what I have yet to mention is the skills. For me this was a lot harder to think about. For a while I didn’t think I had developed any skills. Then, I realized that I developed social skills, I have new friends that I gained through cross country. I also gained some very practical skills, such as ways to exercise better to achieve desired outcomes, like better aerobic capacity. I also learned methods of warming up and diminishing the effects of lactic acid and fatigue after a hard training session.

Fine Motor Skills and Games with Sundac (LO3)

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Walking into this service I hadn’t been sure what to expect. I had experienced service with the elderly and the sick before, and while that is different from working with mentally disabled people, it has many similarities. I knew that part of the reason I chose this service was that I knew it would allow us to enrich our relationships with service partners through a wide variety of interesting activities. I knew we would eventually leave the school and try to do things all around Bedok. I had wanted to really help people develop social skills or at least provide a positive experience.

I helped plan the first session where we interacted with our service partners. It was hard for the three of us who volunteered to run this session, because we weren’t sure what to expect. However, we came up with the idea of eating lunch with the service partners, and then doing some games with them. We knew that we had to have lunch first because given the time they came, the first half of the session would be when the cafeteria is most empty. Since we had never met our partners, and they had never met us, we had the idea to get name cards for each person, so that we could all see what each others names were. We did all of these things because we had a bit of a three point strategy for planning this session. First, identify the needs of the session. That was actually rather difficult. We had to reflect on how we wanted to help our service partners. We came to the conclusion that the main purpose of the first session would be ice breakers and getting to know each other. That was the reason for the name tag activity. Second, we needed to identify the plausibility of all our plans. One of the earlier ideas we had was to play tag with our service partners in a gym. We then realized that this would probably not be safe given that not all of them are very young or able to do things like play tag. Thirdly, we needed to make sure we could make it happen. We went to the service office, and they let us into the store cupboard so that we could look at the supplies and see what things we could use. That gave way to the idea of using a giant parachute and balls. The activities that we did with them went rather well. Overall, I’d say that session was a success as an icebreaker.

Having been part of the service for several sessions, I now know that my original expectations were a bit excessive. Yes, we do interact with our service partners, but right now we’re still getting to know them. Maybe at some point in the year we’ll change our meeting place, but not yet. In addition, part of me feels very discouraged because we haven’t made a lot of progress with them. With several of the activities some of our service partners have become annoyed, bored, or frustrated. However, some of our activities with them have been going well. Unfortunately we haven’t been very successful with our communication, as that is something which many of our service partners find very difficult. We haven’t learned that much about their interests and personalities, and while we know who they are, I’m not sure they’ve started recognizing us yet. I’m not completely sure how our service and interaction with them actually constitutes a service, and whether it’s successful in helping them integrate with society and work on their motor and social skills. Still, there’s a year to go and I have hope.

Can literature reveal human truths, and if so, what kinds of truths?

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In revolutionary road, Frank and April Wheeler seem like good upstanding members of middle class society with two nice kids, and a nice house in the suburbs. However, it is revealed that neither of them is happy, and neither of them wanted to be what they are. They started out idealistic and rebellious. However, over time, their rebellion lost it’s sheen and they began to conform. The Campbells don’t love each other, the Givings sent their son to an asylum, and the Wheelers come to the conclusion that they may never have loved each other, yet they don’t fix it. Maybe that’s a human truth; it’s impossible to be happy, to be in a happy relationship, if you’re living a lie and trying to be a respectable person. No one can truly be themselves in their society without fear of what people will think. However, no one tries to remedy their situation. The Givings care more about peoples’ opinions than their own son. Mr. Givings just turns off his hearing aid when his wife speaks, Mr. Campbell is silently in love with April, and the Wheelers never actually make the proper arrangements to move to France.

 

Frank and April both had what seemed to be respectable middle class parents, and despite how messed up their childhoods were, they became their parents, playing into the cycle of middle class families, their appearances, and their truths. After one visit, John Givings pointed to Alice’s stomach and said he would never want to be that child, they had created a toxic environment within the confines of their home. Despite the child finally being aborted, April’s actions intent on saving her and her unborn child, gave her other children her very own childhood. They would be raised by relatives, they wouldn’t see their parents very often, and they would end up having some version of the trauma April had. The cyclical nature of the characters lives show how futile their different attempts at escaping the depressing confines of typical middle class life are.

 

If these are human truths, then Revolutionary Road is blatantly honest. I’m not sure literature can reveal positive human truths, but perhaps, it can reveal the dart truths we would never willingly reveal to ourselves. Revolutionary Road suggests not only that there is a depressing side to middle class life, but that it’s such a powerful prison, not even our children can escape it.

Scientific Controversy

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The many-worlds-theory which some argue is more philosophical than scientific is a point of scientific controversy as it’s unprovable. It is the theory that (in essence) parallel universes exist. Some argue it’s true from the string theory point of view, and the quantum mechanics approach, both of which one could only prove with math and not empirical data, this is partially where the idea that it’s philosophical comes from. Regardless of the type of, say, multiverse theory people argue (these are all very similar), they are only provable within the clear world of mathematics. This means that it’s impossible to even conceive an experiment or question whether scientists have been cheating. Still, the mathematical route to proving these questions is kind of an experiment in its own way. The theoretical physicists start out with question and then they get a hypothesis and then they test out mathematically. I personally choose to believe that there may be other universes or versions of our world out there, or there is simply so much universe that it’s almost the exact same thing as have alternate realities.

The fourth lesson of My CP

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This is the lesson where we started playing with the idea of having the money strangle me, and moving onto other characters that were overcome by money in different ways. We also started discussing the techno side of the project. We decided to use blackouts and a bit of stop motion, showing us going between stills to show my death. We also started discussing the types of backing tracks we would have and I told the group members about my idea for having a layering of voices speaking about the different topics as we wouldn’t speak during the actual performance. We also discussed projecting onto the screen or us different images pertaining to the issue.

Then we started talking about the need to have another cool visual. So, we played around and eventually got to the idea of this:

We played around with rippling the fabric and different positions but this was our favorite visual. As usual we’re not solid on what the meaning is. However, it’s an interesting visual. We then transitioned the visual by folding the sheet into a screen, and put Kate in the front. I then had the idea of putting someone behind the screen to be a sort of monster or “control” Kate. We ended up with this visual:

Kate and Andrea then worked on movements that transitioned from fear of the power of Andrea and the sheet, into a sort of curiosity and control. This also separates Andrea, and through the use of the sheet kind of can make her seem more part of the sheet as she embodies power and money. They continued and played with the idea of Kate taking the sheet from all of us like I had in the first practice. 

Of course Kate was doing this all while under the control of Andrea which upon reflection provokes some interesting thought processes. Are we ever really in control of our desires? We then wanted something striking to show Kate finally taking it from all of us, and given the silence we already had, Andrea had the idea of a clap which is simultaneous with Kate taking the sheet.

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The third lesson of my CP

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That lesson we didn’t have as much time as we had in other practices and mostly worked on an idea for how I would grow after my “death by sheet”. I had the idea that we could have me have breaths almost mimicking the heartbeat in the beginning, eventually coming out of the way I was buried, but instead getting put in “shackles” by the sheet.

We spent most of the lesson playing with a movement where Kate and Bailee would move in a circle around me, while holding the sheet, kind of like the hands of a clock. I would be dragged by the sheet in a circle.

Once again it was mostly about the aesthetic and the movement, but we figured it could be representative for the passage of time and how money or riches or greed had so much power over me that it controlled me for several cycles.

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