Humanities and mathematics: why we think differently

Is this division justified?

In society, there is a point of view according to which all people in matters of intellectual knowledge have a tendency either to the mathematical pole, or to the humanitarian. The child goes to school, gets an A in literature, but he is not given mathematics. “Nothing,” the parents say, “he is a humanitarian in our country.” The opposite situation is often encountered.

But how fair is this? Is mathematics objectively more difficult to master than the humanities? Are human abilities inherent genetically or are they the result of upbringing?

In the course of the research, Mathematicians turned out to be smarter than the humanities, it turned out that if a student passes exams in exact disciplines, in most cases he also copes well with the humanities. And students in liberal arts schools fail not only in mathematics, but also in languages.

Does this mean that mathematical disciplines are more complex? No.

If a person does all the exams well, this speaks of his responsibility, not ability. Many people can easily operate with abstract concepts and learn languages, but mathematics is very difficult for them. In addition, other studies show that there is no connection at the level of brain activity between the development of mathematical and humanitarian disciplines. These are completely different cognitive abilities.

Physiological basis of intellectual abilities

As part of the study Origins of the brain networks for advanced mathematics in expert mathematicians, scientists recorded the brain activity of mathematicians and other people while performing various tasks. As a result, they came to the following conclusion.

When performing mathematical operations in a person, special areas of the brain are activated that are not associated with language abilities.

It turns out that the difference between mathematical and humanitarian knowledge lies at the physiological level. There are zones responsible for mathematical thinking, and there are zones for linguistic thinking. This is not to say that some of them are more perfect.

Nature and nurture

In the study mentioned above, scientists also came to the conclusion that the ability of children to perform the simplest algebraic operations is the key to further mathematical success. Indeed, at an early age, even before any upbringing, a person's brain areas develop in different ways. Some have better developed math zones, while others have worse.

Since both elementary and more complex tasks involve a single neural network, it is possible to predict the future talent of a child even before it manifests itself. The kid quickly realized why 1 + 1 = 2? Then, in the future, it will be relatively easy for him to be given sines and cosines.

The same can be said about the humanities. The speed of a child's acquisition of a language, the ability to grasp the basic laws of grammar make it possible to assess how good he will be in comprehending the humanities, since early successes in this area indicate the potential of the corresponding area of the brain.

It can be assumed that physiological characteristics predetermine our cognitive abilities. However, this is not the case and here's why:

Many other factors that influence the manifestation of talent are not taken into account. For example, a person may have the makings of a mathematician at the physiological level, but at the same time there is absolutely no interest in this discipline, because of which his natural talent will not receive development.
What we speak of as a physiological disposition may in fact be the result of early parenting activities.

As the Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget Cognition notes, the development of both linguistic and mathematical cognitive abilities occurs in the preoperative period (2–7 years). It is then that the child's physiological predisposition to certain activities can manifest itself.

This period in the development of the brain is the most important, since the creation of neural connections is based on the principle of the frequency of their use. About the peculiarities of brain development from conception to adolescence. That is, after 2–3 years, those of its zones that are most often used begin to develop actively.

At this stage, the development of the brain directly depends on human activity and the repetition of any practices.

It also sheds light on the formation of a person's ability to study twins. Their set of genes is approximately the same, and therefore the differences in intellectual abilities are likely to be due to external factors.

Such studies, conducted by Russian scientists in the 90s, Where do smart children come from, have shown that from the age of two, the intelligence of twins really becomes similar in relatively similar external conditions.

Approximately the same conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara. The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence. The external environment is important and plays the role of a condition for the implementation of the biological basis.

conclusions

Whether a person becomes a humanist or a mathematician depends on the biological factor and heredity, which predetermine the development of his brain. However, the manifestation of this factor is strongly influenced by activity in childhood. We are talking about the period when a person has not yet directly begun to study the disciplines themselves, but in the process of playing and communicating with parents, he somehow involves different areas of the brain, stimulating their development.

In practice, this means the following: parents should not impose on the child activities for which he has no special attraction and in which he is not very successful. We must try to find talent and contribute to its development.