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These files are maintained strictly for historical reference, research, and recordkeeping purposes,
and the content has not been altered or updated since archiving.
Content on this site may not meet current digital accessibility standards.
If you require an alternative, accessible format of any information found on this site,
please contact Bruce Jones, bjones@ucsd.edu to request an accommodation.
not sure if "Western civilization prioritizes (and then mathematizes) social relations described in the Arabic wisdom" is a fair statement. but mathematical models are just models, and do not absolve the user of the need to think critically. now i get sceptical even of my own example of -2 × -3. in real life (esp. in places that do not practice Islamic banking or follow the Tanakh / Old Testament prohibition on usury), when you borrow money, banks charge you interest. [hmmmm ... this sounds like a huge part of the "civilized world".] so -2 × -3 may not be a good way to cancel a debt incurred by borrowing $3 two times (2 × -3). the funny thing i never understand is: when you are in trouble, the banks do not bail you out. they slap you with more interest charges, late-payment penalties, lawsuits, eviction notices, ... etc. but when the banks are in trouble, you bail them out. i'm pretty sure _this_ aspect of "math" is _merely_ socially constructed. F.K. 2009/4/30 Eugene Matusov <ematusov@udel.edu>: > Dear everybody-- > > In response to Mike's profound inquiry of why a minus times a minus is a > plus, I was thinking that it is a mathematical model of the Arabic wisdom > that "an enemy of my enemy is my friend." Of course, the latter is not > always true -- we have plenty of examples when enemy of our enemy is still > our enemy (or just indifferent) and, thus, for these types of social > relations, the mathematical model of (-1) x (-1) =1 does not work. Just > consider, for an example, the relations among the US, Al-Qaida, and Saddam > Hussein. > > The issue for me is why the Western civilization prioritizes (and then > mathematizes) social relations described in the Arabic wisdom. One answer is > because "the real world" works according to these social relations (i.e., > the social relations is just an example of the truth out there). An > alternative explanation is that the Western civilization can afford and > might be even benefit from imposing these social relations on "the real > world" that by itself is indifferent to any social relations (and thus > mathematical models). Any other explanations? > > What do you think? > > Eugene _______________________________________________ xmca mailing list xmca@weber.ucsd.edu http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca