re: #622 I am smarter than you

I wrote a paper entitled “Vaginal Algebra” in which I explored this very complex and multi-faceted issue. I explored the idea of multiplication not just from a religious view (and the male oppression intrinsic to casting women into a domestic child bearing role) but also the fact that it is the woman who gives life to the world and that multiplication is a life giving operation.

And I took the analysis past such a Eurocentric mind/body dichotomy and explored the impact of Algebra on the lives of Arab Women with the symbol of the Hijab. And in that we have a strong symbol of cultural identity in which the woman feels fortified in the use of multiplication. So we see that in other cultures the use of multiplication is not as corrosive as it is in the West.

Fascinating! Yes, I can see that we could move towards a more transformative form of algebra, transcending Western culture. Where the 6 might lie down with the 9, as it were.

I hope you’ll consider some followup work on this. Perhaps “Genital Geometry and Cervical Calculus”?