Abe Alba

“In mathematics, the art of asking questions is more valuable than solving problems”

Georg Cantor

I found that quote in a book called The Math Book, by DK Books. It absolutely flipped my lifelong perspective of math. I had been taught that the result isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

How old were you when you learned to multiply? I don’t mean memorizing the times tables, but getting the underlying logic. How old were you when you learned to read and write? I don’t mean recognizing letters and spelling words; I mean conveying what you mean or understanding what somebody else does.

I used to love philosophy during my school days. I loved what philosophers said, and their complicated ways of saying it. I’d love to say it was they who taught me about asking questions; rather, our approach at school was more about memorizing who said what and pretentiously repeating those people’s words, like a hollow echo.

It shook me to realize, many years later, that great mathematicians were even greater philosophers than the ones I had studied; not because of their postulates, but because of their questions, which set the path for discoveries carried out by generations to come.

During the pandemic, I worked as a basic English teacher so I could survive. I had no previous teaching experience, except for my tour guiding expertise. I always told my students: Don’t be too concerned about what you’re going to say. Instead, at this level, commit yourselves to asking; the simplest questions: What, Who, Where, Why, When, How. Once you ask, commit yourselves to listening. Care about the answer, not for the answer itself, but for what it means to the person.

I think mathematical thinking is, or should be, somehow similar. It’s not about the result for the result itself, but what it means.

Sometimes I still hear the question: What’s the point of philosophy? Now, I can answer that it is absolutely necessary—not to inflate one’s ego by repeating grandiloquent quotes, but because we need to avoid the trap of taking things for granted, since great lessons are hidden behind things we label as obvious.

I read somewhere that mathematician Alan Turing—whose greatest contribution to humankind is told in the 2014 movie The imitation game starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley—paved the way for modern computer science by asking: “What does it actually mean for a mind or a machine to calculate something?”. That question opened up one of the gates of modern programming. Simple yet world-changing, don’t you think?

I don’t know why or when we forgot that both math and philosophy are about asking meaningful questions. Maybe it’s high time we started doing it again and revising many things we think we already know. Moreover, if you want to stay forever young, stay forever curious.

Have you ever given some thought to the art of asking questions? I’d love to hear what you’ve got to say! Keep the conversation going at hola@abrahamalba.com 

Abe Alba