The mathematician Clara Grima will visit Galicia in February.
He is one of the 22 Spanish people who will change the 22nd, according to Forbes. She is a professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Seville and will be in Tomiño on February 9, at the Goián Auditorium. In search of the lost graph, a world to discover, is the latest book by Clara Grima (Coria del Río, 1971), who overtakes streamer Ibai Llanos on the Forbes list. She tries to show that "everyone actually likes mathematics", which generates 10% of Spanish GDP. "Either we improve the education of our children or they will be condemned to labor exclusion," he warns.
—Why is math hard?
—Due to the training we have had, we associate mathematics with doing accounts, accounts, many accounts... And they are logic, deduction, intuition, creativity... If there comes a time when you have to do accounts, as a hairdresser or a journalist has to do them. When mathematicians are in a research group, and we have squeezed logic and intuition, we have to do the math... And nobody wants to do it! And I say: "We leave it to the intern." The themes are still outdated. There is a lot of emphasis on calculus and we lose the opportunity in Mathematics class for children to learn to think. Mathematics class is thinking class.
—But the force of numbers has always been with you.
—In school my favorite classes were recess and Mathematics. Well, recess wasn't a class... But, when I was studying COU, I didn't want to be a mathematician, I wanted to be a philosopher. It was my philosophy teacher who, a few days before the selectivity, asked me: «But don't you like mathematics so much?». I told him: "Antonio, I like mathematics and I like to dance, but I don't want to be a dancer or a mathematician, I want to be a philosopher!" And he, who knew that money was tight at home, told me: "Why don't you study Mathematics? That work is going to come out right away... ». And I listened to him and discovered what real mathematics was. Although at first I felt like Alice in Wonderland. It seemed to me that they were all crazy.
—You're into numbers, but your story is very literary, passionate.
—The biggest step to climb when entering the Mathematics department is understanding language. When you get it... it's done.
—Mothers and grandmothers were great mathematicians in their handling of home economics. You say that mathematics is in our day to day. Where can we see them?
—I agree about the mothers. My mother worked cleaning houses and my father in a workshop, they earned much less than me, and they raised six children without a problem. I tell her: «Mom, you weren't even Minister of Economy...». The math is in the clothes you wear. I don't know if you've ever tried to make yourself a garment. When you make a blouse, you can take the pieces of the paper pattern; they are polygons. My grandmother used to call it tasmear to square the pieces of the pattern. When I did my thesis, I ran into the problem of locating pieces occupying as little space as possible. And I thought: "This is what my grandmother did, tasmear!". My grandmother did geometric optimization. What you're trying to do with the pattern when making a blouse is to place the pieces of paper on the fabric in a way that you get the most out of it. If my grandmother makes a dress, a little bit of fabric is lost and nothing happens, but if it happens to Inditex, millions could be lost. Mathematics are on the mobile you carry. Can you explain to me how that little box takes photos? Google is a work of art of mathematics. The little plastic box, thanks to mathematics and geometry, knows your location, with interior maps, Voronoi maps. The clothes and shoes we wear, the technology, the technology of clothing, is mathematics. Almost everything around us, except feelings, is math.
—Isn't there a mathematics of feelings?
—No. If you search on Google, you will find the equation of love, but I don't think feelings are something that can be algorithmized.
—What is innumeracy?
—It is not in the RAE, but I suppose it will incorporate it. Innumeracy is the lack of basic knowledge in mathematics. It would be analogous to illiteracy when we talk about reading and writing. The innumeracy is seen in the queues for the Christmas lottery, in things like that people believe that the 5 is going to come out because it has come out many times. This innumeracy is harmless, but there is a dangerous innumeracy: that of the quick money loans that are advertised on TV. And there is another example of innumeracy in public administrations: the lottery for school places, when a letter of the alphabet is drawn. This is the most unfair thing in the world. You are Abelenda and I am Grima, last name. If someone comes, draws a million between the two of them and to do so, draws a letter, what are your chances and what are my chances? Abelenda plays with A. But if B comes out, it's for Grima. If B, C, D, E, F, G comes up, with any of these six letters Grima wins. If H comes out, the prize goes to Abelenda, and it's also for you if I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X comes out , Y or Z. Conclusion: Grima only plays with six ballots: B, C, D, E, F and G. The rest, 27 ballots, are for Abelenda. It's fair? This type of draw of the Administration is numerical. And it hurts, because your son's place may depend on it.
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—Is math the opposite of magic?
—Math sounds like magic to me, but it's always based on evidence. When my friends asked me what I had learned in the race, I told them: "Not to believe something that they do not show me." Mathematicians know how to pose the problem and know how to solve it.
—Will they solve the pandemic?
—I don't know... The pandemic is a polyhedron. There are the toilets, giving everything wave after wave. And this is where politics comes into play. Mathematics are useless for feelings and neither for politics. Politics is unpredictable, like love and soccer. Soccer players are tired, sad or happy... and the goals depend on this. The human factor is not controllable.
—Are the best mathematicians people, not machines?
—Yes, they are people. Mathematics is a human work of art and only humans do mathematics, but to understand mathematics, boys and girls must be trained from an early age to see the beauty of mathematics, which is not in the accounts.
—Are they still taught badly?
—Programs are rigid. If you enter the new high school curriculum, there is already a high school that studies graphs. This is mathematics: take a graph, paint a situation and solve it. There is a phrase by Pessoa that says: "Newton's binomial is as beautiful as the Venus de Milo, but there are few people who can appreciate it." The "I don't like math" thing is similar to "Kids don't like vegetables." But have you tried them, do you know them well? There is an affective component. In the scanner, a child's brain is calm if they are told: "Let's read a story", but if it is: "Let's do a math exercise" areas of the brain associated with pain light up. It is something that generates anxiety. Kids in math class should be having a good time.
—Can a girl who is not quick at calculating be a good mather?
—Of course. Society does not need someone who knows how to add 7 + 8 upside down, but rather people who are quick to connect and solve problems. We have to detect human talents that have nothing to do with machines. The essential thing is to find a good solution and a logical and orderly path to reach it.
—Why do we fear the algorithm?
—The algorithm is not bad. There are a large number of algorithms that are dedicated to the diagnosis of diseases, to the development of tools against cancer. The big problem we have today is not covid, it is resistant bacteria. There are people at the Massachusetts Institute of Massachusetts who are doing artificial intelligence algorithms to design antibiotics using the full power of mathematics. Most of the algorithms are working to improve the world.
—Why do you think there is a gender gap in Mathematics? There is?
—Boy there is, and it's opening up even more. In '89, I think the ratio of men to women was 50-50%. Around 2000, the percentages were 60% women and 40% men. As of 2007, the curves begin to separate and now men are close to 70 and women at 30%. When mathematics became a successful, prestigious profession that earns money, the proportion of men increased. It is something cultural, I am convinced; It cannot be biological or genetic, because the figures say that in the 80s there were more women in Mathematics than now. I don't think it's a mutation, like the ones in the coronavirus! When being a mathematician meant being a teacher, there were many women. Now few of those who study Mathematics want to be teachers... They want to be in technology, earn money, have power. But be careful, if there are no female mathematicians, the algorithms will be made by men. They are different looks. The Netflix documentary Coded Bias alerts just about this.
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