math as sensitisation

In the first iteration of the study, he and the team had started with a totally naive neural network. But they found that if they began with a neural network that had already been trained to recognise some unrelated feature (dogs versus cats, say) it learned faster and better. Perhaps our brains function similarly. Those mind-numbing exercises in high school—factoring polynomials, conjugating verbs, memorising the periodic table—were possibly the opposite: mind-sensitising.

- AI vs. MD (Siddhartha Mukherjee)

I had always suspected that mathematics increases general mental sharpness. Since it is the most rigorous of all academic disciplines, it should also be the most "mind-sensitising" one in Siddhartha's sense. This creates a pragmatic ground for arguing in favor of making abstract mathematics a mandatory part of public education.

Personally speaking, my most challenging intellectual journey involved a deep understanding of category theory. The inhuman level of abstraction caused me headaches. Now, looking back at my experience, I think that pain was literally the pain of adding new layers on top of the already existing layers in my (neocortex) neural networks. I have probably been using those additional abstraction layers ever since, in all areas of my life.