Planning my Theory of Knowledge class on Mathematics as an Area of Knowledge, I realise again what a strange mixture of art and maths I am! How I enjoy mathematics! Yet, I realise how much can be challenged. Is mathematics associated with beauty? What is the focus of mathematics – reliability, validity, certainty or truth? What is the point of mathematics? Is mathematics, as a system, a simplistic reduction of the world into categories that do not really exist? Is the study of integration/derivatives/imaginary numbers/irrational numbers a meaningful contribution to human knowledge?Thinking along these lines, I realised that in mathematics, context is often irrelevant. We discussed three examples that the class enjoyed thoroughly.Mathematics is the only subject in which you can buy 32 watermelons and no one will ask 'why'.“If you have three oranges and four apples in one hand and … [Read more...]

Theory of Knowledge challenges the way we know, and I wanted to show how we see what we expect to see. Of course, these are old, old ideas, but they were fun anyway!I showed my class this picture: "What does it say?" I asked. "Paris in the spring!" "Are you sure?" I asked several students. In a class of over twenty, only one - and eventually one more - disagreed. Then, I asked a student to identify the picture: "Six of hearts!" came a reply. It took just a few seconds for another student to object, but my point of seeing what you expect to see was established! … [Read more...]