Mathematics Discovery

by | Nov 18, 2020 | mathematics

Write two Mathematics Discovery Papers this semester. The purpose of a MDP is to practice writing original mathematics results. You will identify a topic that interests you, pose an original question related to the topic, and explore answers to your question. Note that a MDP is NOT a report on mathematics that has already been done. You are NOT summarizing the existing findings of past/current mathematicians. Instead, this is an exercise in creating/discovering new mathematics.

Formulating a Question
New mathematics questions often arise from looking at another mathematician’s work and thinking, “What if instead…” or, “I wonder if…” For instance, we might work on the Fibonacci Sequence in class and you might find yourself thinking, “Would different patterns arise if the Fibonacci sequence started with 2, 2, instead of 1, 1?” Or, when we’re exploring number systems in different bases, you might think, “I wonder how addition would be different if our number system was base-5 instead of base-10.” The question you explore should arise from genuine interest. It is essential for a mathematician to be genuinely curious about the questions they solve. This will motivate you to keep working through the question even when you encounter difficulties. When determining a question to explore for your MDPs: if you find yourself wanting to keep playing around with something outside of class, this is a good sign that something related to the topic is a candidate for a MDP.

Writing a Partner Paper:
MDPs are partner assignments and both partners will receive the same grade. Consider your “community contribution” when working with a partner. Would you want to be partnered with yourself on this assignment? Are you being a responsible and caring partner?

It is recommended that each partner SEPARATELY explore your question to start. Then, come together to compare methods and share findings. Together decide a specific route to explore further. DO NOT write up your findings as two separate explorations. Together, determine a way to share your findings cohesively. This may mean abandoning one partner’s work to focus instead on what the other partner has been doing. Basically, the reader should not be able to tell that there were two authors on the paper. It should read like one continuous piece.

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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