/lit/ - Literature

>>14862406
are you interested in modern mathematics or in the history of mathematics?

>Is it important to know mathematics in order to understand the world?
it depends on what kind of world do you want to understand
the social world->sociology,history, political science, pyschology
>the physical world>chemistry, biology, physics
almost all of them use some kind of mathematics, ones more than the others

literally any book can help you, but let me tell you that the definitions aren't absolute and mathematics, even if more refined and less wrong than anything humans have produced isn't very rewarding as a theoretic subject to study alone.

>>14862406
People who haven't at least passed a calculus class are subhuman. The ones who failed need to be purged

>>14862437
I come from a desire to appreciate the world using mathematics. I feel like there are things I'm blind to because of my limited knowledge in the subject. A history of mathematics working up to modern mathematics seems the best course.

>>14862445
Fuck you bugman

>>14862467
Found the humanitard

>>14862406
>Is it important to know mathematics in order to understand the world?
if you are interested in natural philosophy / science yes it is, in fact it's an essential part of understanding evolutionary processes as we currently understand them (as you quoted Darwin). Its helpful for a lot of philosophy as well, spinoza liked his geometry.

no

>mathematics starts with a definition, philosophy ends with a definition.
>A clear statement of what it is we are talking about is not only missing in philosophy, such a statement would be the instant end of all philosophy. If we could define our terms, then we would gladly dispense with philosophical argument.
t. Gian-Carlo Rota

>>14862406
i think learning how to attack a math problem for which you do not know the correct method to solve (not like in school where you knew you were gonna use integrals on the next test) helps tremendously with your ability to solve problems generally. Learning math logic and mathematics at least through calculus should be a part of any good education

>>14863210
This. And there are some books/materials that deal explicitly with this. Take a look at:

>Polya's How to Solve It
>Modern Heuristics (which is Polya's book but with modern computer algos)
>3blue1brown youtube channel (the calc and lin alg series are very good)
>Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach
>Art of Problem Solving books on Prealgebra, Algebra, Discrete Math, Geometry and Calculus
>A book on stats, but I don't know of any good one since I mostly learned by reading blogs

>>14862406
I’ve always been interested in mathematics, but my severe dyscalculia pretty much prevented me from excelling - went on to study history in Uni. Any good books on getting into mathematics?

>>14862406
Math is essential for understanding anything and the most rewarding theoretic subject to study on its own.

What math subjects are helpful for philosophy? I've already studied calculus and I'm going to take a deep dive into all that set theory and logicism autism, but I'm thinking what subjects could give a better appreciation of the underlying structures of our experiences of the world? Something like advanced geometry maybe?

>>14863455

Find a probability and statistics text/course based on calculus.

Understanding basic probability and Bayes Theorem will give you a powerful bullshit filter.

I emphasize the calculus requirement because most statistics courses just give formulas to memorize for very specific situations. The good courses will teach enough probability for you to create your own models for broader situations and run them through some integrals to derive the formula from first principles.

>>14862406
Read Paul Lockhart's two books:
* A Mathematician's Lament
* Measurement

>>14863318
Measurement by Paul Lockhart: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15701297-measurement

For seven years, Paul Lockhart's "A Mathematician's Lament" enjoyed a samizdat-style popularity in the mathematics underground, before demand prompted its 2009 publication to even wider applause and debate. An impassioned critique of K-12 mathematics education, it outlined how we shortchange students by introducing them to math the wrong way. Here Lockhart offers the positive side of the math education story by showing us how math should be done. "Measurement" offers a permanent solution to math phobia by introducing us to mathematics as an artful way of thinking and living.

In conversational prose that conveys his passion for the subject, Lockhart makes mathematics accessible without oversimplifying. He makes no more attempt to hide the challenge of mathematics than he does to shield us from its beautiful intensity. Favoring plain English and pictures over jargon and formulas, he succeeds in making complex ideas about the mathematics of shape and motion intuitive and graspable. His elegant discussion of mathematical reasoning and themes in classical geometry offers proof of his conviction that mathematics illuminates art as much as science.

Lockhart leads us into a universe where beautiful designs and patterns float through our minds and do surprising, miraculous things. As we turn our thoughts to symmetry, circles, cylinders, and cones, we begin to see that almost anyone can do the math in a way that brings emotional and aesthetic rewards. "Measurement" is an invitation to summon curiosity, courage, and creativity in order to experience firsthand the playful excitement of mathematical work."

>>14863455
Check out "More Precisely: The Math You Need to Do Philosophy":
https://www.amazon.com/More-Precisely-Math-Philosophy-Second/dp/155481345X

>>14864597
>The good courses will teach enough probability for you to create your own models for broader situations and run them through some integrals to derive the formula from first principles.
That's not really how probabilistic models work in my experience. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you. In general a model will consist of some variables drawn from some data generating process which is modeled by a known distribution (for instance for data involving counts of successes and failure, you might use binomial/multinomial/Bernoulli/categorical). These distributions will have parameters which themselves might be drawn from some distribution (in which case you're dealing with a Bayesian framework, and will either want the parameters to be drawn from a conjugate distribution to the likelihood or use something like MCMC to compute the posterior) or just assume a uniform prior and do MLE. You might also have transformations on the random variable (and maybe that's what you were talking about) but the modeling aspect is very much about finding dependencies between variables and mapping the appropriate distribution to the parameters/variables under consideration.

I do agree about not memorizing formulas though, especially since statistical distributions are very simple and very easily derived.

What is calculus?

>>14865612
Its calculating anon

>>14864597
>Understanding basic probability and Bayes Theorem will give you a powerful bullshit filter.

>>14865657
Is it really just that? Then how is it any different from arithmetic?

>>14865612
differentials n shit

>>14866035
see>>14865736

math can suck on my balls

>>14865612
The study of change.

>>14865736
Arithmetic is the study of counting.
Algebra is the study of symbolic manipulation to uncover logical yet hidden meaning.
Calculus is the study of change.