ask a 10 year old to do a trig problem now ask a 10 year old to throw a basket ball through a hoop We often compare human brains to computers in terms of calculations per whatever. They say soon computers will be able to do billions of times as many calculations as a brain. I believe that brains poses an ability to elminiate the need for math, an ability not yet developed in computers. Studies show that babies are able to do math even before learning to speak. Things like recognizing if something is missinge, or should be there. Humans can kick footballs hundereds of yards into a goal, throw balls through hoops, grenades into windows. We can shoot targets hundereds of feet away without a scope. Go outside, and take some rocks, and throw them into a whole from a distance. See how long it takes you to get good. Not long right? I propose that human brains are able to understand outcomes in much more fundamental conceptualizations, making us require much much less calculations for some tasks. This makes our potential net inteligence much greater than computers that must have math calculations done for every detail, despite our lack in processing power.
So instead of doing math and finding the exact answers to all of our problems, we should just take wild guesses until we get it right? "How much will be in my bank account after accruing 6 months of interest?" "Eh... I feel like it'll be about $400.00." or "If I'm driving from D.C. to New York at an average velocity of 50 mph, how long will it take me to get there?" "Fuck it, I'm gonna say a year."
Also, the fact that the computers only work out the equations we give them, because they have a quicker processing power. Mathematicians still have to envision the problems in the first place.
you missed the entire point, or are blind to it, because all you can think about is flaming everything i say >.> the point is that basket ball players dont do math in their heads every time they shoot. try opening your mind to other peoples ideas, and actualy analize it, instead of flaming it. There is never a reason to be an ass, so seriously, try being civilized for once
Natural selection granted us evolutionary means of solving simple and sometimes essential math equations. How far to jump up onto a given platform; throwing a ball in a hoop; an even distribution between 4 beats; how much pressure to put on each part of our foot at a given time to keep us balanced. They don't have to be exact and eventually you get a "feel" for it (a balance between wrong and right). As far has hard mathematics goes, perhaps this is a consequence of our natural ability to process mathematics/patterns. I don't think our brain is doing the hard mathematics and filtering it out though. I think our brain just has a natural rhythm which is close enough to make things work for the given circumstance.
lol turn the volume down man. The OP's point is that nature has no need for the things we call the laws of physics. A planet orbiting the sun doesn't first calculate it's orbit and then follow it, it just knows it. The same is true for humans throwing a rock, shooting a basketball or throwing a spear to kill some animal to eat. There is the one side that we are learning the laws of nature through physics but it never aims to say why the rules are there in the first place. Why is it that the eletromotive force works the way it does? Yes we know the equations that tell us how they do it but we are still no closer to knowing the why it is there in the first place. I'm sure you'll make some complaint against this idea but it doesn't really matter. No one has an answer and it's just something interesting to wonder about and let your mind dance in it's own imagination. To the OP, I'm with ya and don't worry there are quotes from the greats wondering the same thing. The first one that comes to mind is Feynman when he is talking about how the laws are like a chess game we are trying to figure out. We can learn all the rules but they never speak to why the game is chess or why the board is setup like it is. I tried to find the video of it but only found the part he is talking about the chess rules. p.s. it's somewhere in [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwtbh6wcq78"]these[/ame] sets of video's. I've seen them a couple times and am too lazy to go through them all again to find it so if you have spare time or haven't watched it by all means. It is a very interesting interview if you haven't seen it yet.
My post was responding specifically to this part: It's true, our brains are very powerful. We are very good at basic mathematical estimations such as distances, weights, etc. But we are by no means intelligent enough to live without math. I don't mean to flame anybody. You have some interesting ideas, but sometimes you let your imagination take things a little too far. A lot of what you're talking about it muscle memory and operant conditioning. Your muscles know how hard to contract in order to make you jump a certain height, or lift a certain weight. It's because you've taught yourself how to do it. The first time you picked up a bar and bench pressed it, you got a feel for exactly how much work you have to do to move it. After doing it more and more, your muscles learned more and more. When you add weight, your muscles adjust to that.
On another note, this is an interesting article that talks about a tribe that does not have a concept of time, math, or numbers. However, they find that certain skills of geometry are innate, or naturally learned. Language Without Numbers: Amazonian Tribe Has No Word To Express 'One,' Other Numbers
I believe the complete opposite. I believe our brain function is bound by mathematics. Math explains every scenario you just described with geometry, algebra, and physics. It is also why we have such a hard time comprehending anything if it does not mathematical sense (double slit experiment).
Mathematics is just something we invented to explain the patterns that we see all around us. Our brain doesn't transcend it, it uses it beyond our depictions of arithmetic - just like snow flakes use Madelbrot fractals without the ability to count using our numerical equivalence. This doesn't mean geometry now doesn't exist, it just means it is a part of our very fabric, just something we had the intelligence to discover, interpret and study.
basketball players do math in their heads every time they shoot, they just aren't aware of it. 90% of brain activity is subconscious.
thats just the point though. I didnt mean we shouldnt learn math. I know how muscle memory and all that works, your just explaning the mechanism behind the phenomena, but the point remains the same. Here is a better example. Humans can play the violin quite well. I used to be a music major untill I swiched to science, which interested me more. When I would play a concert, It was like driving a car. I wouldnt even think about my music sometimes, unless it was a hard part, I just kinda played it. Now a computer, would be running tons and tons of calculations to perform the same thing. There are robots that play the violin, but not very well, and they dont think about how cute the violinist in from them them is for example, while they are in the middle of playing, because they are focusing on the millions of calculations required for tuning, dynamics, and emotion. Basically, before AI will be better then us, they need to learn this skill, or rather, we need to give them this skill