Investigation of fatigue-crack growth under simple variable-amplitude loading

Fatigue-crack growth under simple variable amplitude loading in aluminum alloy

Decolonising Mathematics

Mathematics is not universal. Traditional (normal) mathematics accepts both deductive and empirical proofs like science. Colonial education replaced it with formal mathematics, the unique feature of which is not the use of reasoning but exclusion of the empirical. The coloniser never critically com-pared normal and formal mathematics, and tries to block such a comparison today. In Western dogma (of the church theology of reason) deduction is infallible. In fact, deduction is fallible. (1) An invalid deductive proof may be mistaken as valid. Doubts about validity can only be settled inductively. In practice, doubts are settled by invoking authority. Hence, deductive proofs are always more fallible than empirical proofs. (2) The postulates of formal math cannot be empirically checked; they are metaphysics (a metaphysics of infinity is needed even for the formal math of 1+1=2). Thus, far from being eternal truths, formal mathematical theorems may not even be approximately valid knowledge. (3) Formal math dogmatically assumes two-valued logic (on the superstition that logic binds God). But logic is neither culturally universal (e.g. Buddhist logic) nor empirically certain (quantum logic). Therefore, the theorems of formal math (even if valid) are not even truths relative to postulates. Hence, colonial/formal math is inferior and should be rejected. This does not affect the practical value of math – what ‘works’ – which all comes from normal math which we should, accordingly, teach