You might be wondering, what the hell does set theory have to do with writing? I’ll tell you a secret:\ everything is built on sets. Sets are things of beauty. They are great ways to conceptualize, compartmentalize, and classify the world and everything it encompasses. And now I know I’ve danced around the question of what sets have to do with my writing. So, here is my answer: I use set theory as the foundation for all of my writing

Sanchez, Andres

English

Scholarship@Claremont

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics Volume 10 | Issue 1 January 2020 My Sets Are My Foundation Andres Sanchez Illinois State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm  Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Sanchez, A. "My Sets Are My Foundation," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 10 Issue 1 (January 2020), pages 378-382. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.202001.20 . Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol10/iss1/20 ©2020 by the authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. JHM is an open access bi-annual journal sponsored by the Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences and published by the Claremont Colleges Library | ISSN 2159-8118 | http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/ The editorial staff of JHM works hard to make sure the scholarship disseminated in JHM is accurate and upholds professional ethical guidelines. However the views and opinions expressed in each published manuscript belong exclusively to the individual contributor(s). The publisher and the editors do not endorse or accept responsibility for them. See https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/policies.html for more information. My Sets Are My FoundationAndres Sanchez1Illinois State University, Illinois, USAandreslsanchez13@gmail.comSynopsisYou might be wondering, what the hell does set theory have to do with writing?I’ll tell you a secret: everything is built on sets. Sets are things of beauty. Theyare great ways to conceptualize, compartmentalize, and classify the world andeverything it encompasses. And now I know I’ve danced around the question ofwhat sets have to do with my writing. So, here is my answer: I use set theory asthe foundation for all of my writing.A set is a collection of objects. Plain and simple. Now, you might be askingyourself, “What is a collection?” Well, a collection is a grouping. Well, thenwhat is a grouping? We can continue this questioning on and on, but it is notthe point of my paper. What I want to start with is what all mathematicsstarts with: sets.You may be thinking that mathematical sets have to do with numbers. Well,yes and no. Mathematics in itself does not always deal with numbers. Math-ematics in its purest forms deals with concepts, structures, and rigorous,logical reasoning. Sets behave the same way.You can have a set of numbers, a set of chairs, a set of emoji, etc.1 Andres Sanchez is a Ph.D. student in English Studies—Creative Writing and M.S.student in Mathematics at Illinois State University, where he focuses on the implicationsof mathematical properties on text and culture. This essay originated as an assignmentfor Dr. Bob Broad’s Teaching Composition course at Illinois State University in Fall 2016.The author wants to express many thanks to him for the guidance in the creation of thispiece.Journal of Humanistic Mathematics Volume 10 Number 1 (January 2020)Andres Sanchez 379Sets can be denoted by a left brace {, followed by the elements of the set,followed by a right brace }. So, the set{a, b, c}consists of the elements a, b, and c. To make writing and referencing some-what easier, we can label sets. So, we can assign the set {a, b, c} the label A.We usually write this asA = {a, b, c}.Sets don’t always consist of numbers or the letters that those of us feared inhigh school algebra. Sets may consist of anything. This is a set:{¢, , 12, R©, f}.This is a set:{5/8, 7/2, asf, they, 89,,}.This is also a set:{}.That last one is called the empty set: the set consisting of no elements.We can do operations with sets. We can take their intersection A∩B, whichis the set with all the common elements between A and B. We can take theirunion A ∪ B, which is the set with all the elements of both A and B. Andthere are other operations with sets as well.Now, you might be wondering, what the hell does any of this have to dowith writing? Well, I’ll tell you a secret: everything is built on sets. Weuse set theory in our day without realizing we are using it. When I goto teach my students, I say I have to go teach my class. My “class” isjust a set label assigned to the set consisting of the twenty-three students Iteach. See, sets are things of beauty. They are great ways to conceptualize,compartmentalize, and classify the world and everything it encompasses.And now I know I’ve danced around the question of what sets have to dowith my writing. So, here it is: I use set theory as the foundation for all ofmy writing. Whether I am writing poetry or essays, I map out my ideas insets and then proceed with mathematical logic. If the logic doesn’t work, Idon’t write it.380 My Sets Are My FoundationBut what set theory, and math in general, have taught me to do is be veryspecific in my wording. Mathematics has to be specific in order to provethings. Rigorous logic requires it. We can’t be hand-waving and assumingthe proof will come out correct. A proof demands exactitude. This precisioncarries over into writing out arguments.I use lots of words and phrases that give myself wiggle room. Phrases suchas “not necessarily,” “perhaps,” “maybe,” “I think but am not sure,” etc.I use these phrases when I am making an argument about, say, some linein a poem. I am not 100% certain that my argument is correct. I cannotprove it, because poems don’t work that way. So, I feel compelled by mymathematical training to express this uncertainty in the words I choose.I remember in high school learning about not writing “I believe” at thebeginning of sentences. I’ve also taught this over the years as well. Juststate what you’re trying to say. But now, I use “I believe” a lot in mywriting. This is because I cannot state as fact the argument I’m making. So,I have to say, “I believe” to make it honest, because there’s nothing worsethan lying to my reader.But this will lead to problems in my writing of arguments about things thatare not math. Because I work try to work in strict logic, as I do in math, Ioften cannot come to any real conclusion. Because I want to use set theory,I cannot find sets that accurately describe the problems of the arguments.Because I cannot prove anything, my papers tend to be wishy-washy andvery conditional. I merely suggest conclusions to problems set forth.Where set theory and math falter in my argumentative papers, they excelin my poetry. Since I am creating poems, I don’t care about argument orlogical reasoning. I am using mathematical concepts to produce new text.The main way I use math is through algorithms to create poems. I have asimple formula that I plug a long text into, and voila, I have a new randomlygenerated poem. Sometimes the poems make sense; most often, the poemsare complete nonsense. But that is fine. The point of these poems is not tonecessarily make sense or defend an argument. The point of my poems is tocreate new text.A very simple example of this math-poem creation process is whatis called N+7. You take an already existing text and a dictionary.Andres Sanchez 381You replace every noun in the text with the noun that appears seven en-tries later in the dictionary.2For example, take the poem “In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound. Thepoem is two lines long.The apparition of these faces in the crowd;Petals on a wet, black bough.The N+7 version might beThe appendectomy of these facings in the crucifer;Petermans on a wet, black bounce.But even this math-poem is not rigorous. It can turn out completely differentif you’re using a different dictionary!I have used other types of math to create text. Sometimes the pieces aremore mathematical than others. Sometimes the poems are more inspired bymath than actively using math in their creation.Now, these two aspects of my writing, essays and poems, are not the onlyways I use math in my writing (or, perhaps writing in my math). When Ido math, I have to actually write it out. Unlike common perception, mathis not about jotting down long equations and trying to solve some reallylong division. I am a mathematician (-ish), not a calculator. So, when Ido math homework, I don’t write out long lists of numbers. I use words toexplain concepts and proofs. I remember in one math class in college, ourprofessor told us to use words and not just symbols. He wanted us to writein paragraphs.Mathematical proofs can be written in a multitude of ways. Some people liketo use mostly symbols; some people like to use mostly words. I like to use ahealthy balance of both. If I use too many symbols, then I can lose contextof what the symbols are representing. Then, the proof is hard to understand.On the other hand, if I use too many words, it can become over-bearing withtext. A symbol is great for condensing down a complex concept into smallercharacters. So, having a balance between these two is where I like to positionmyself as a writer in math.2 This process was first invented by the French poet Jean Lescure, one of the membersof the experimental poetry group Oulipo.382 My Sets Are My FoundationMath and mathematical thinking have appeared in my writing in many waysover the years. Whether it be the logical basis for my thinking in essays,or as the method of creation in my poems, or writing the math itself, mathand sets have played a vital role in my history as a writer. And I still usemath now, as it is my focus whenever I do research. And math will alwaysbe there, because remember: everything is built on sets.

My Sets Are My Foundation

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1600&amp;context=jhm

My Sets Are My Foundation

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Scholarship@Claremont