Re: does doing math really make you smarter?

I would suppose if "g" or our ability to solve problems is an modal
entity, meaning it can't be broken down into subparts then I suppose we
could say yes, learning the guidelines on how to solve problems does
help other unrelated abilities. Obviously its been proven that there
cannot exist an algorithm to prove every true statement or disprove the
ones that are not. Yet, learning some strategies and techniques does
help, it does not guarentee that you will solve every problem, but it
gives you the material necessary to give you the best shot of doing so.

If we believe the mind is purely material we are more or less led to
believe the mind is a machine, hence we can emulate it, so it is
possible in principle to boost your ability to solve problems. Now if
we admit quantum effects in our brain then our mind can't completely be
a machine, even then loads and loads of studies show that "g" is tied
to our genetics hence our mind is partially material (how could
genetics affect it otherwise) and since our genetics have been shaped
by evolution where classical mechanics describes the interactions
between objects quite well, our "g" is taylored to solve problems
within that context. Since classical mechanics is deterministic our "g"
is taylored to pick up on deterministic behaviors hence it may not be
too large a jump to say that "g" is an algorithm while the origin of
self-awareness is not.


On Oct 16, 5:54 pm, "mensana...@xxxxxxxxxxx" <mensana...@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
Herman Rubin wrote:
In article <1161022153.900494.171...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
mensana...@xxxxxxxxxxx <mensana...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

benn...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Good point. OK, to avoid getting bogged down in definitions, let me
broaden the question: Has it ever been found that for two mental
disciplines X and Y that deal in unrelated concepts, there was some
empirical evidence that practicing X will make you better at Y? (Here
we run into problems defining what exactly count as "unrelated" areas;
I mean, for example, in the sense that calculus is more or less
unrelated to number theory.)

In my case, I would say yes. I nearly flunked algebra as a
high school freshman (had to study all summer and take a test
to get my grade).

Then, as a sophmore, I took geometry and something about
it just clicked in my head and I got straight A's. And this carried
over to trigonometry, algebra II, calculus, etc. until the very last
math class I had (solving differential equations with LaPlace
Transforms when I got a C).

I would say that geometry class made me a lot smarter.

Or did the geometry class teach you what a proof is,
and that "proving" was the way mathematics was
established?That's kind of what I meant by "made me smarter".
If I hadn't learned proofs in geometry, who knows how
I would have fared in subsequent math classes.



You also got practice in proofs, which carried over
into other parts of mathematics.There's also the intangibles. You probably can't
imagine the confidence boost that getting A's in
a math class had on a bad student. Of course,
I never considered myself stupid, just a bad student.



--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558

.

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