The other day over dinner my dining companion, a fairly regular reader of this blog, accused me of being an optimist. Well, perhaps “accused” is not the best word. But in the moment I did feel that the characterization was, in a way, limiting. I certainly have my dark side, which I draw upon quite often. For example, my post of five days ago was a recollection of what was certainly a dark and daunting time for me. But I suppose she meant that the general tone of my writing is one of perpetually bouncing back, looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Or as Winston Churchill once said: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
I have a theory about this. Namely, I suspect that people who play with mathematics, in particular those of us who have grown up doing that from childhood, tend to be optimists. After all the central premise of math is that the Universe is a never-ending curiosity shop, with something new and exciting waiting just around the corner, or maybe on that next shelf over there.
There are many different philosophies in this world, religions, sects, ways of trying to metaphysically frame our existence. After all, existence itself is an ultimate mystery. A mystery that includes not just the astonishing fact of the glorious human mind we each possess, but also the human tendency towards playfulness in using that mind. How fortunate we are that playfulness, the sheer joy of exercising our minds and bodies, provides such a supreme source of pleasure. Of course it’s not all that surprising that our species would derive pleasure from a quality which so improves its odds of survival. That’s just common sense.
But mathematical playfulness in particular has a uniquely charming quality. Even as simple an expression as N + 1 suggests a world of possibilities. I think this quality is linked to that fact that it doesn’t matter what N is – it could be five or 33 or 1048577. When I say “N + 1”, or “N × N” or NN, I’m not thinking about the number itself. Rather I’m thinking about a property of the Universe, a simple way to discover things about all numbers everywhere.
It’s like being in a house where every door can lead to a new room you’ve never visited. And each of those rooms contains other doors, so you can wander and explore as long as you want, without ever running out of new adventures. As a framing device for existence, the mindset that goes along with this process has certain advantages. The joy that comes from mathematical exploration leads to a very real experience of each new day as a fresh possibility for adventure. And yes, I think the general sense of this joy, of having options to explore, does indeed have a way of seeping into everything else.
Which, I guess, makes me an optimist. Opto ergo optimum
Beautifully said. Though it’s probably the optimist in you speaking.
Another mathematician might say that math preps your mind for the problem, the difficult question which has so far alluded you and left you wanting.
As a literary person, I do feel as if my art preps my appetite for the knot, drama, or human tension. Hence: my drama with people even at dinner…and perhaps my pessimism. Or maybe that’s putting the cart before the horse. I’m drawn to be a fiction writer because I was born with an appetite for tension.