On Mathematical Ways of Knowing

TL;DR

This paper explores the cognitive foundations of mathematics, emphasizing its roots in human cognition and how our perception of the universe influences mathematical understanding.

Contribution

It engages with the concept of mathematical cognition through a humanistic perspective, highlighting the intrinsic link between human thought and mathematical structures.

Findings

Mathematics is rooted in human cognitive processes.

Our view of the universe shapes mathematical development.

Mathematics reflects inherent aspects of human thinking.

Abstract

Mathematics is one of the ways our species makes sense of this world and I believe that it is inherent in our thinking machinery. The mathematics we do in turn is dependent on the way we view our universe and ourselves. Lakoff and Nunez [17] argue carefully and eloquently for a mathematics inherently based on human cognition. In this note I attempt to engage with the construct of mathematical cognition through the lens of humanistic mathematics.