Mathematical thinking

The definition of mathematical thinking is this: mathematical thinking is abstract theoretical thinking, whose objects are devoid of materiality, but they can be interpreted in any arbitrary way, with only one condition - relations between the objects must be preserved.

Given that mathematics is a science not only about equations and formulas, but also about structures, order and relationships, the main difference between mathematical thinking and ordinary (everyday) is that it instills and develops a person's critical perception of the world around him, desire and ability to "dig deeper" and find the truth, understand the causes and essence of a variety of concepts and phenomena.

If we talk about the practical benefits of mathematical thinking, then first of all (because its definition speaks for itself), of course, it comes to mind that it helps us to cope with mathematical problems. However, its true value is much greater.

Scientists have been trying to understand, for more than a decade now, where in general there is the ability to conduct mathematical calculations in man. To explain this phenomenon, two theories are proposed. The meaning of the first is that the inclination to mathematics is a side effect of the appearance of speech and language. And the second says that the reason for everything is the possibility of using an intuitive understanding of space and time, and the roots of this understanding stretch back centuries.

Trying to understand which theory is correct, psychologists conducted an experiment for which 15 ordinary people and 15 mathematicians with the same level of education took. Both groups were offered several complex mathematical and non-mathematical assertions, and participants had to evaluate their truth, falsity or meaninglessness. During the experiment, the brain of each subject was scanned by a tomograph.