The primary topics of this blog are math and politics - two subjects which are superficially very distinct but which share some common issues:
Lots of people are intimidated by explicit math, saying “I can’t do that” because they’re afraid of being wrong or find the rigorous step-by-step mentality uncomfortable. Similarly, political discussions tend to devolve into us-versus-them tribalism that ignores the fundamental issues in favor of knee-jerk reactions and emotional-but-imprecise memes.
Both math and politics are important tools for addressing society’s and humanity’s troubles. In both cases, journalists & researchers (scientists / politicians) have a tendency to present their results as completed works when they are more like works-in-progress or “current thinking”. This is exacerbated by the public’s tendency to avoid the details, and to view “how the sausage is made” with frustration and suspicion.
Math provides no fundamental ethics / morality. Politics is nominally all about ethics, about necessary trade-offs, and about compromise. While this is a distinction, it shows a way they complement each other: Math illuminates the details of political decisions and potential compromises. Politics provides an ethical framework and motivation for math and statistics.
My goal in this blog is to find ways to talk about math and politics which are accessible to the lay reader, and which help to illuminate potential solutions to real-world problems.
Personally, I’m Sarah Messer. I’m fairly liberal in my politics, and have degrees in math, physics, and computer science.