"Was Mathematics Invented or Discovered?"
By Caitlin Willis
Analysis of findings:
What I have learned:
- First evidence of Maths is as old as a hundred centuries before us - counting using markers/tokens
- Platonism - idea that numbers exist independently of humans and our minds, they exist but not in space and time - nature
- Surveys - 52% thought it was discovered, supports my theory
- Non-Platonism - Maths is just a creation of the human mind and it is purely mental
- At first I thought it was definitely discovered
- I have learned that most of it was actually invented
"It is reasonable to say that all of the mathematical techniques that we're familiar with were invented so that we could discover more about the mathematical truths that are already “just out there”.
Final thoughts:
Overall I think my investigation was very successful as I managed to come up with an answer for my question.
Also, I am very pleased with my dissertation and would not change anything about it.
Any questions?
Research points:
- The origins of Mathematics
- Platonism and the Platonic theory
- My own research - test questionnaires/surveys
- Non-Platonism
Project Strengths:
What my extended project is about and why I chose this:
- Time management - schedule
- Being flexible - making time for other sources
- Communication - emailing lecturers
- Dissertation - Maths
- To help me in later life
- Always enjoyed Mathematics
- It's what I'm good at
Project Weaknesses
- Underestimating how long things would take
- Research - got better over time - not just Google, books, interviews etc.