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Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account
Many of the methods commonly used to research mathematical practice, such as analyses of historical episodes or individual cases, are particularly well-suited to generating causal hypotheses, but less well-suited to testing causal hypotheses. In this paper we reflect on the contribution that the so-...
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| Format: | Default Article |
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2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/12084018.v1 |
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| _version_ | 1818167215904522240 |
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| author | Matthew Inglis Andrew Aberdein |
| author_facet | Matthew Inglis Andrew Aberdein |
| author_sort | Matthew Inglis (1384290) |
| collection | Figshare |
| description | Many of the methods commonly used to research mathematical practice, such as analyses of historical episodes or individual cases, are particularly well-suited to generating causal hypotheses, but less well-suited to testing causal hypotheses. In this paper we reflect on the contribution that the so-called hypothetico-deductive method, with a particular focus on experimental studies, can make to our understanding of mathematical practice. By way of illustration, we report an experiment that investigated how mathematicians attribute aesthetic properties to mathematical proofs. We demonstrate that perceptions of the aesthetic properties of mathematical proofs are, in some cases at least, subject to social influence. Specifically, we show that mathematicians’ aesthetic judgements tend to conform to the judgements made by others. Pedagogical implications are discussed. |
| format | Default Article |
| id | rr-article-12084018 |
| institution | Loughborough University |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | Figshare |
| spelling | rr-article-120840182020-04-12T00:00:00Z Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account Matthew Inglis (1384290) Andrew Aberdein (815082) Mathematical aesthetics Hypothetico-deductive method Social conformity Hypotheses Many of the methods commonly used to research mathematical practice, such as analyses of historical episodes or individual cases, are particularly well-suited to generating causal hypotheses, but less well-suited to testing causal hypotheses. In this paper we reflect on the contribution that the so-called hypothetico-deductive method, with a particular focus on experimental studies, can make to our understanding of mathematical practice. By way of illustration, we report an experiment that investigated how mathematicians attribute aesthetic properties to mathematical proofs. We demonstrate that perceptions of the aesthetic properties of mathematical proofs are, in some cases at least, subject to social influence. Specifically, we show that mathematicians’ aesthetic judgements tend to conform to the judgements made by others. Pedagogical implications are discussed. 2020-04-12T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/12084018.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Are_aesthetic_judgements_purely_aesthetic_Testing_the_social_conformity_account/12084018 CC BY 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Mathematical aesthetics Hypothetico-deductive method Social conformity Hypotheses Matthew Inglis Andrew Aberdein Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account |
| title | Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account |
| title_full | Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account |
| title_fullStr | Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account |
| title_short | Are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? Testing the social conformity account |
| title_sort | are aesthetic judgements purely aesthetic? testing the social conformity account |
| topic | Mathematical aesthetics Hypothetico-deductive method Social conformity Hypotheses |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/12084018.v1 |