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Algebra Lessons of Life

Ready? Go sets!

I passionately began with the long trek towards climax with algebra. Set theory and the number system--familiar territories--loosened some taut nerves in me. As I re-studied them, I realized that many theories are applicable to human life. For example, intersection. Communication, mathematically stated, is an intersection of two minds. When what you have in mind is what I also have in mind, then our thoughts are intersecting and we hold something in common--the essence of communication. Or when I think of my place in this world, I see myself as just a point inside a small circle labeled "Earth" which is inside a box labeled "Universe." I often muse myself if the "Universe" is really just everything inside that box in a Venn diagram.

Next I also learned that some things are not commutative like addition or multiplication. Many things in the world are made following a step-by-step procedure. You can't put on your shoes before putting on your socks. You can't fry an egg by breaking the egg on the pan first and then pouring on the oil. I also realized that the closure property holds true for many things in life. The closure property states that if a and b are natural numbers, then a + b or a × b is also a natural number. This property is true in procreation. The proponents of biogenetic theory would agree with me that living things come from other living things. A stone cannot suddenly turn into a human being. A horse cannot bear a pig. The closure property holds.

Next page: Undressing the Integers