Hi, this week we've been thinking about certainty.
We've seen that certainty can be helpful. It
gives clarity. But it can also lead to a closed
mind. And a closed mind can limit growth. It
can lead to us believing things like, I'm not
wired for math. Or more broadly, this is just
who I am. But we've also seen something deeper
about what math really is. Math is about pattern
recognition, seeing structure, relationships,
and how things connect. And once we begin to
see patterns, we can begin to ask a new question.
Are these patterns fixed, or can they change?
I'm part of a non -profit called Change Course.
We work with individuals who have patterns of
drug abuse, crime, and deep discouragement. And
when I spend time with people in that program,
sure, I notice there are difficult patterns in
the past. But I also see something else. New
patterns. Patterns of kindness, gratitude, humility,
and hope. They remind me that the patterns of
our past do not have to be the patterns of our
future. And isn't that what we've seen in math
this week? For a long time, math was built on
a single way of seeing the world, like a flat
plane. But over time, mathematicians discovered
something more. There were other ways to understand
space, other structures, other possibilities.
And once that shift happened, everything expanded.
In a similar way, change in our lives can feel
difficult to imagine. especially when we've lived
in the same patterns for a long time. But math
gives us perspective. It took thousands of years
to develop a clear understanding of change. It
wasn't until calculus that we had a framework
for how things grow, shift, and evolve. Change
in our lives is just as complex. But it is. For
example, my own story is different from many
of the people in the Change Course program. I
grew up with a loving family, access to a good
education, and strong values like discipline
and hard work. And I'm deeply grateful for that.
But when I looked more closely, I saw something
else. What began as confidence slowly turned
into arrogance. a pattern of believing I was
right. And once I saw it, I realized I had something
to learn, especially from people whose experiences
were very different from mine. They have helped
me grow in kindness, in humility, in awareness.
And that's one of the things I appreciate about
math. Math does not... play favorites. What is
true is not based on power, status, or appearance.
It is an open invitation to discover, to learn,
and to grow. Next week, we will explore that
more deeply as we think about truth, how we know
something is true, and how we prove it. But to
finish this week, I'm sitting with these questions.
What patterns in my life are good and worth preserving?
And what patterns might need to change? This
is Intersecting Us.