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by Qem
1637 days ago
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But surely notations vary a lot in quality. Think for example in roman numerals vs. positional number systems as alternative notations to work with arithmetic. One was surely a great advance over the other. So I wonder, what elements of our modern notations are akin to roman numbers, a suboptimal solution awaiting to be replaced with something vastly better. Is all perceived complexity in math inherent to it, or at least some of that is due to subpar notations? |
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No, of course not, but I'd argue that every notation that's in use gives practitioners that use it strictly more mathematical capability. Notations make things that previously only geniuses could comprehend become things with wider accessibility.
Consider Roman numerals. Like anything, they are suboptimal, but without them, large numbers are essentially impossible to manipulate. They gave the business class the ability to record their finances and inventory, for example, which is a remarkable achievement. It's great when better things come along like positional number systems -- people can learn the art of division in grade school because of it, rather than needing to leave that to the experts -- but we shouldn't dismiss what was replaced as merely holding us back.