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End Notes: Abstract Math and its Implications
The Cheat Sheet provides the detailed required by the analysis conducted in Abstract Senses. This looks at how we form an image in our heads about what is going on in the outside world.
Observation: Abstract Mathematics
In one famous scene from Blackadder II caricatures the mathematical ability of the average man in Tudor England at the time of Elizabeth (1558–1603). The reality of that time was that life was hard:
Life expectancy was less than 40 years for the ordinary man life and his education was poor(1):
- Literacy was poor with only ~20–30% of men and less ~10% of women being able to read. This figured varied across regions and social position.
- Numeracy: like literacy your ability of number was a matter of social position.
- The “average man” (a labourer or peasant) probably couldn’t read or write(6) but could count for practical needs (e.g. count sheep, bushels).
For the church counting was one requirement and possibly promoted a rudimentary knowledge -Counting aids such as tally sticks, trade accounts, and church records existed. Officials could use them for taxes and tithes, while most laypeople relied on memory or local custom.
The clip plays on the superstition that Baldric understands the concept of few and many – Baldrick treats four beans as abundance compared to three, an absurd underestimation that fuels the comedy -this is a gross underestimation to support the comedy of the clip. This points to the abstract sense of maths discussed in abstract senses. This is not unique to humans(2)
- Cats and dogs manage 1–3.
- Some Fish: fish can size shoals up to 4.
- Birds: stretch to 5 or 6;
- Primates: push to 9 with training
- Human infants(3), like animals, stall at 3 or 4 without words.
Consequences Drawn: Abstract Math
Abstract mathematics(4) is about attaching dimensions to the world out side in the form of these and many other things – it is about determining the dimensions our physical and sometimes abstracts senses are implying:
- Is this big or small?
- Is it quite or laud
- Far or near?
- Loud or quiet?
- Worth it or not?
The distinction between few and many is not uniquely human. It emerges before language in babies and across much of the animal kingdom. It does not require the fully developed adult human cortex to do it. It also appears other members of the animal kingdom have counting abilities like that of babies – some animals can count to 4 and the chimpanzees can count to 8 or 9.
Counting sheep is a skill and it will not develop unless it is needed and requires some thought when doing it.
By mentally dividing a field into quadrants, the shepherd moves from instinctive subitizing to deliberate abstraction. That step — combining counts — is the beginning of mathematics.
Compared with tribal life on the savanna, Elizabethan England had advanced institutions — schools, churches, courts — but this progress was uneven, benefiting mostly the privileged.
The development of abstract senses beyond those of abstract math enabled these societies to evolve. Human Evolution had switched to evolution in the social database. Baldrick is an exception for an ordinary man. Blackadder tries to teach Baldrick, not to save his soul but to make him useful. If he succeeds, Baldrick becomes either a better asset — or a sharper rival.
In the human world the survival of the fittest has taken on a new dynamic. When viewed through this lens the role of the The church both preserved literacy and controlled it.”
For humans the fight for a reasonable living standard is function of:
- What you know and how you learn more about the outside world
- Applying your understanding of the outside world
Action: Based on the Consequences of Abstract Math and its Implications
- Keep learning; your education never ends.
- Learn from other people — they are your best textbooks.
- Take responsibility for yourself, or risk being left behind.
“In one famous scene from Blackadder II…”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4IQjUpTNVU
Taken from YouTube Title “Blackadder | Series 2 Episode 2 “Head” | BBC”
Posted 16.04.2019
📖 Series Roadmap
- Forward: A Little Background
- Introduction: Action, Reaction, and the Human Paradox (16.09.2025)
- Looking Back in Time: The Development of the Human Brain (23.09.2025)
- Abstract Senses: Enhancing the way we see the world outside (30.09.2025)
- Bias as a Concept & Climbing the Stairs: Pattern Recognition & Everyday Tasks (07.10.2025)
- Abstract Feelings and Abstract Senses (14.10.2025)
- Motivation (04.11.2025)
- The Social Knowledge Base (11.11.2025)
- Potential (18.11.2025)
- The Subliminal Way We Go Through Life (26.11.2025)
- Taking Responsibility (02.12.2025)
- Fishing for Complements (22.12.2025)
- Peter and Fermi (22.12.2025)
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End Notes: Abstract Math and its Implications
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