Recognizing Mathematical Brilliance A World Away
“Cuánto cuesta” I ask as I place the brilliantly painted pottery in front of the artist, who has just gotten up from painting a gorgeous owl. Or, as he called it, “a boo.” His talent is unmistakable, as is his pride in his work. His shop is overflowing with treasures. I have spent the last 30 minutes marveling at the bright patterns, the contrast of colors, the symmetry and the geometry within each handcrafted piece. He shuffles his feet, shrugs his shoulders and shaking his head states “matemáticas!”
In that moment I realize he does not know the sum of the cost of my 5 items. He is unable to add together these numbers. He reaches for a calculator, and I say, “Cuesta 380 quetzales.” He looks up at me briefly, but then continues to type the numbers into the calculator. He turns it around to show me the display, smiling, and says, “Si, es 380.” He seems to think this whole mathy thing that just happened is a little funny, as he shrugs and wraps up my purchases. I take this time to share with him that I am a “teacher of teachers” of mathematics and that I am in Guatemala working with local teachers. I know as I stand there with this humble stranger half of a world away, that this interaction is something I will revisit in my mind for a long time.
There is so much going on in this brief human interaction. The fact that this man is sharing with me that he is confounded by mathematics, while I am in his country to TEACH mathematics teachers is ironic.The educator in me wants to go grab some twigs and some stones, and start combining things, and counting, and see what we might discover. After all, the prices of the items were all in multiples of ten. Surely, he has some understanding of combining amounts. I think of the proportional reasoning that he possesses in order to create just the right shade of green, and to be able to replicate that on each piece, time and time again. I think about his attention to detail, and his ability to create things to scale. I am astounded by his keen eye for geometry and how various rotations and translations of shapes allow him to tile space with vibrant patterns. As far as I am concerned he is a genius, as are all of the artisans in this remote village of San Juan La Laguna in Atitlan, Guatemala.
So, what might we conclude from this interaction? What story might we want to talk about? What is the learning from this situation?
There are many stories to be told here. The first and most obvious is the story that some people think they aren’t good at math. And some form of this fallacy just might exist in all cultures. I am troubled by that idea. OR there is the opportunity to think about the role of technology, which in this case was a simple handheld calculator. For some, there is a belief that people are over reliant on technology (this interaction really is not unlike the cashier at McDonald’s who relies on the register to make change). But, I don’t think this is the real story. Here’s what I think.
I think the story here is to ponder, what IS mathematics? What is the role of mathematics? And, what is the overlap between culture and mathematics? Which mathematics is relevant given the culture that we live in? AND, how do we acknowledge and recognize when profound mathematical brilliance surrounds us?
These are deep questions that keep me awake for which I don’t have answers. But, I enjoy thinking about them. I do believe that mathematics serves as a great connector, we just need to open our eyes and see that it is everywhere. It is unavoidable. It is abundant. It is beautiful.