TOK speech - Does experience with mathematics influence perception of beauty?

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Show video: (1:45 - 4:10) http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pawlyn_using_nature_s_genius_in_architecture.htmlV: So, using mathematics to describe and better understand our perception of beauty in nature is not only an interesting endeavour, but one that can help us create beautiful and sustainable designs based on nature. Imagine a solar panel having the same design as the arrangement of leaves in a Fibonacci sequence. Not only would that be visually awesome, it could provide an answer to using solar panels as a main source of energy. Mathematics and nature is all around us, so putting them together in design would make something incredible.A: Although we have discussed at length about mathematics, and how it is beautiful, our high school education does not teach actual mathematics. Our learning consists of arithmetic and computational math. So what right do we have to talk about mathematics and its beauty? Does experience with mathematics influence perception of beauty?Show picture of nature and picture of mathematical formulaAsk class which is beautiful, and which is easier to perceive as beautiful.V: There is much beauty in nature, and we can all recognize it without any mathematical training. Mathematical beauty, however, may only be appreciated if one is familiar with its language and if one has enough experience and knowledge to identify it.A: There was a time when my uncle challenged me with a math problem. I fumbled through with it but I gave him the correct answer. My uncle being well-versed in math traced through my steps and laughed. He then gave me a much shorter, less complex method to solve the problem. The kind that seems obvious once presented to you. My uncle’s experience enabled him to solve the math problem elegantly, while with less experience in mathematics, I could only stagger through with a correct, but
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clumsier solution.V: My experience with mathematics has been limited to the curriculum the provincial government has outlined for our schooling. I’ve only associated mathematics with repeated applications of equations and formulas plus long stuffy lessons, which all adds up to boredom. I can’t find beauty in something I don’t understand that well through my limited education, and not in something I don’t feel much for. My experience with mathematics was hampered by my education in computational math, so finding beauty in pure or applied mathematics comes much harder for me.Does the use of mathematics as a language represented by symbols ...

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