Math Books as a Channel of Communication

Consumer-Centered Education

The Importance of Humanistic Knowledge

Many people understand that studying mathematics is indeed very beneficial, but few put it into action. This is because most mathematics books on the market are still filled with problem-solving exercises and abstract mathematical theories. A paradigm shift is necessary in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A series of practice processes that explore the secrets of nature should be created as part of the mathematics curriculum to facilitate desirable math study. Such a curriculum would align with the ideal standards of mathematics education.

Observing, finding motifs, and drawing them so that we can see them is the realm of biology. The study of mathematics begins with biology, where motifs are formed. When these motifs accumulate and form structures in nature, they finally become visible to our eyes, taking shape and becoming tangible. Now it is time to name these shapes. Those that are visible and have form each have their own names.

Naming falls within the realm of chemistry. Every substance can be expressed with a chemical formula. In mathematical terms, this is called a relational expression. Knowing the chemical formula allows us to create structural models. What was once too small to be seen finally reveals its shape before us.

Nature never rests. Even the moment we call “now” is already the past. The concept of time merges with things that are visible and tangible. As a result, the accumulated patterns collapse, and new patterns emerge. With the addition of the new dimension of time, a world of chaos emerges where rules seem to exist, yet it is unclear what those rules are. The world of forms that is visible and tangible is a fractal world that falls under chemistry. The world of chaos is the domain of physics. It is not easy to find rules in a situation where new patterns are created simultaneously as existing patterns collapse. To grasp this at a glance, people need to elevate their intellectual capabilities. In other words, they must possess exceptional creativity.

"Possessing high intellectual capabilities" means possessing the ability to see what is not visible, hear what is not audible, and perceive the unseen world as if one has already experienced it. It is like having exceptional predictive abilities. To visualize the realm of invisible forces and laws, we need to operate in a higher dimension. In this way, we can uncover the rules that govern that world. Identifying the rules is essential for making predictions.

To elevate our dimension, we must cultivate humanistic knowledge by reading extensively. Humanities contain the stories of human life and death, the creative lives of countless individuals, and their noble deaths. While time and space constraints limit the ability to directly experience all these stories, we can indirectly experience them through reading. Humanistic knowledge is understanding people and societies from eras we have not lived.

A New Paradigm for Mathematics Education: Consumer-Centered Education

Education should be understood in relation to politics, power, or economic means of production. Throughout most of human history, rulers have shared the common goal of maintaining and strengthening their power. Power refers to the ability to exclusively possess the land one governs and the people who live there. Maintaining power means preventing others from taking away that exclusive possession of land and people. Rulers strengthened their power by expanding their territories and securing subordinate classes.

What kind of textbooks do those in power desire? It is easy to predict that they would be created from a supplier-centered perspective of those in positions of authority. There has never been a textbook centered on the common people, citizens, or consumers. Textbooks produced by those in power had no relation to the happiness of ordinary citizens. A characteristic of this power-centered or supplier-centered education is that only one type of textbook exists. Moreover, there are always teacher's guides and manuals with standardized teaching methods and uniform exam questions. Exam questions are exclusively drawn from this singular textbook. Even today, many countries continue to implement such educational practices.

During times when a small number of rulers only needed to rule over a defined territory, supplier-centered education was highly effective. However, in today's capitalist society, where capitalists hold power, such an education system has created many issues. Students still study using a single type of textbook, and exam questions do not extend beyond its contents. Modern rulers apply the same standards to rank individuals, hiring only those deemed superior among them. As a result, consumers, or citizens who are not chosen, become marginalized.

However, this education system, which neglects individual creativity, ultimately leads to national losses in the long run. Economically, the boundaries of goods and services markets today are entirely different from those of the past. In the past, people lived self-sufficiently within their national borders, but now, there is active exchange between countries. The boundaries of the goods and services market have disappeared. Just with a smartphone or computer, we can easily purchase famous international products. Therefore, supplier-centered education has lost effectiveness. This is why we need consumer-centered education.

Books are Channels of Communication

At the 2017 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference held in San Antonio, there was a call for a change in the educational paradigm. There was an increasing demand to transition from supplier-centered to consumer-centered education. A noteworthy statement from the CEO's opening night speech was:

"No matter how advanced technology is, we cannot achieve innovation without communication."

The organizing committee of the ISTE Conference produced and distributed a video across the United States. The content featured various children expressing their desire for teachers to ask them what they want to learn and what kind of exam questions they would prefer. It conveyed a message asking for the education that the consumers desire.

Despite technological advancements, without communication and input from children, we cannot create the products they desire, nor can we achieve true innovation.

Every child is born with at least one talent, a gift passed down from their parents. It is essential to identify the seeds of creativity inherited from parents, nurture them, and help them bear fruit. To achieve this, education must shift from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach. It is time to change our perception of books. Books are no longer merely sources of knowledge. In the future, books will serve the role of connecting numerous education consumers with numerous education suppliers. From the perspective of education consumers, opening a book should inspire a desire to learn. For countless education suppliers, books should reveal who needs the content they create. In other words, books become channels of communication that connect many educational consumers and suppliers.

For this reason, books must be recorded in natural language. Books filled only with formulas and problems cannot connect educational suppliers and consumers. Most knowledge in the world is spoken, recorded, and conveyed in natural language. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, it has become possible to search, save, and output information through natural language processing. This is why mathematics books should be written in natural language to connect numerous educational consumers with suppliers. Of course, these mathematics books should conform to the global standard of mathematics education. When this foundation is firmly established, consumer-centered education will ultimately be achieved.