Table of Contents
gende
#flo #hw #reading
1 x + y, Eugenia Cheng
- def of "woman" is constructed, arbitrary
- and they hurt! but mathematical thinking can help
- mathematics is not just about numbers and equations, even tho it
starts with them
- at the heart of mathematics is the framework for making arguments
- which had abstraction and logic
- at the heart of mathematics is the framework for making arguments
- def abstraction: seeing past surface details in a situation to find
it's core
- hmm… i don;t agree with this. it's less about seeing "past" to find a core than it is about zooming out until the details are irrelevant, and seeing the patterns
- does abstraction get to the core? ig it does in the sense that it distils..
- two cultures of mathematics
- problem solving
- theory building
- but what does this mean? ## theories
- descriptive, not prescriptive
- hmm… what about axioms?
- works at higher levels of abstraction
- the right abstraction hold great power in explanability
- she is proposing one such abstraction / reframing, but for gender!
1.1 the problem
what is it? divisivness of arguments around gender equality.
- society get's distracted by the argument of how men and women are
different
- this is a detraction! not the right argument
- because it draws us into a meta-argument
- this argument about what we should be arguing about only maintains the status quo
- but, mathematics is v good at sorting this stuff out!
1.2 math time
- mathematical deduction is not about averages on a large sample set
- instead, they use logic, not evidence
- reductionist? assumes our logic is good enough
- instead, they use logic, not evidence
- individual experiences do not generalize to large groups
- the reverse is also true
- we can get around this with a case study, and then trying to generalize
- yooo she does
KBxSystemsofSystemsinNatureandDeepLearning#category
theory
- says that a similar type of seemingly small abstraction is possibly what she has now
- not mathematics of gender, but a mathematical approach to gender
- ie. a redefining
- continual abstractions is the process of math
- statisical link is not enough! math looks for causality
- set theory asserts that math is fundementally about membership, whereas category theory asserts that it is fundementally about relasionships
- she hopes to focus on relationships instead of intrinsic characteristics
- abstractions can be temporary! you can details back in later
1.2.1 dimensions
- because dimensions are by definiton indipendent, it's hard to define
new ones
- as you can't describe them w/ the existing dims
- looking at too low of a dimensions messes things up
- eg. a shadow instead of an object
lmao aight
1.3 inclass
abstractions can be applied cyclicy (ie. vec to matrix to tensor) "category theory is the science of metaphor" - ted