MATHS is nothing but gossip about abstract ideas, says mathematician Keith
Devlin of St Mary鈥檚 College in Moraga, California.
Devlin told the meeting that he came to this conclusion while trying to
explain our capacity for abstract mathematics. Because abstract maths has been
around for a fraction of our history, we must use abilities that evolved for
other purposes.
Devlin identified nine mental tools essential for doing maths, including an
understanding of cause and effect and a grasp of relationships between two or
more things. But this only helps us do maths when we can also think in the
abstract, and for that we need language.
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Devlin argues that, since two-thirds of speech is gossip鈥攃hatter about
the characteristics of and relationships between people鈥攇ossip is key to
maths as well. 鈥淭he secret to doing mathematics is to approach it as if it were
a soap opera,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anyone who claimed they had difficulty
following a soap opera.鈥�