Mathematics is a powerful tool that can help us solve not only mathematical problems, but also problems from other areas. It is known to significantly increase brain capacity, improve analytical and problem-solving skills, create the basis for systems thinking, and broaden the mind to handle unknown tasks with ease and confidence. Mathematics also encourages one to develop strong observational skills and stimulates critical thinking. Many people disagree with the fact that mathematics can help develop the brain.
However, in many ways, mathematics helps us develop our brains. Mathematical thinking influences several areas of the brain. The more you do the math, the more active your mind will be. Many of the lessons parents teach kindergarten children are based on mathematics.
We can say that “mathematical concepts are the food of the brain”. Dr. Attridge demonstrates that studying higher mathematics (at the advanced secondary and university levels) leads to an increase in logical ability. In particular, mathematics students become more skeptical in their reasoning and begin to think more critically.
Arnold, director of translational neurology at the Interdisciplinary Brain Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, insists on the importance of fully funding mathematics education in the early years. Mathematics is a recent activity (numbers are at most 10,000 years old), so the brain didn't evolve to think that way. This could mean that the neural resources needed to understand and work with certain mathematical concepts could undermine or “exhaust” some of the other capabilities of the brain. However, it is unknown how the connection between an integrated “number sense” and higher-level mathematics is formed. Using mathematics to calculate the right amount of food and medication ensures that patients stay within the limits of the prescribed eating plan. Mathematics can help predict the likelihood of side effects of different drug combinations and to identify the intervals of this treatment program. The next time you want to encourage your children in their mathematics studies, teach them to see that mathematics is not a burden, but a tool that will help them excel right now.
Instead of telling your children that they will need geometry if they decide to become engineers, tell them that mathematics will allow them to better fill in the blanks (artists, soccer players, writers) right now. Vedic mathematics is a controversial topic and that is why it has not found its way into school books and curricula. However, as Susan Wise-Bauer wisely pointed out in The Well-Trained Mind, memorization by heart has been ridiculed and considered a “lower-order math skill”, as if it were somehow inferior to higher-order math skills. In short, while many people tend to believe that you are good or bad at math, math is necessary for good health. Mathematics is the best exercise for the brain.
