Numbers With Personality

In reading Alice Major’s (2017) delightful paper, I particularly enjoyed the personification of numbers, which imbued them with charming personalities. On page 3, the findings from a study showed that participants perceived numbers ending in 3, 7, and 9 as "less good." This immediately reminded me of a chapter from The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. In chapter 3, certain numbers are humorously and dramatically called "primadonnas" in a playful story between a devil and a child.

The concept of personifying numbers—assigning them human-like traits—breaks mathematics out of its typical rigorous, objective, and somewhat disconnected perception. I realized that I employ a similar approach in my own teaching. I often "antagonize" irrational numbers, long decimals, and large numbers that are cumbersome or difficult to factor. I might say, “I don’t like this number; it’s too much for me!” to encourage students to convert unwieldy decimals into more manageable, “prettier” fractions. 

Yet, as I reflect on this and write this post, I wonder if I’m being entirely fair. In striving for equity, perhaps these “othered” numbers deserve more respect and gentle attention rather than playful exile. Maybe, like students themselves, they have quirks and challenges that merit curiosity, patience, and a little kindness—reminding me that even in mathematics, empathy can have a place. 

I later paused on page 5 at the paragraph that begins, “However, it seems that we start learning mathematical skill using a more semantic scaffolding…frontal cortex to the parietal areas.” This section highlights how both linguistic and non-linguistic abilities are linked to supporting the understanding of spatial relationships and the organization of collections of items. A common mathematical norm is its strict presentation and reliance on widely accepted symbols—often Western-dominated—leaving little room for other forms of mathematical knowing. Yet much of mathematics is deeply grounded in language, context, and tangible reasoning. I can see how leveraging linguistic scaffolding and being mindful of the funds of knowledge that my students bring, especially linguistically, provides an opportunity to make abstract concepts more accessible. It also reminds me that storytelling, creativity in art and poetry, and even humor can serve as cognitive tools to help students (and even ourselves) make sense of complex mathematical ideas.