In this 15 minutes expository talk, I will explore how emotions play a vital role in a person’s mathematical journey through a collection of personal stories. Considered as the most logical subject, mathematics is usually completely separated from emotions in our conscious practice. As a consequence, the emotional aspect of one’s mathematical experiences is almost never discussed throughout formal education. The emotional aspect of a mathematical experience includes the joy of understanding something new, the excitement of having a new idea to try, the pain of not getting how certain things work, the fear of talking to someone about your ideas, the anxiety of not knowing if something is going to work or fail, and many more. I will argue that tuning into one’s emotions and consciously sharing them with others while engaging in mathematical studies instead of neglecting them could be a key to an enhanced learning/research outcome and satisfaction.
Mathematics and Emotions*
Maiko Serizawa,
2022 AWM Research Symposium
Women, Art, and Mathematics (WAAM)