Structuralism

Amil Aczer's book, The Artist and The Mathematician has a primary focus on the mathematical group called Bourbaki. In the early twentieth century, this group added much needed structure to mathematics. The idea of structure spread however to other branches of study such as anthropology, economics, and psychology. The conclusion reached is that the human brain has an inherent need for structure; we create it or discover it in everything.

There are several passages that are worth quoting:

"Structuralism is a method of intellectual inquiry that provides a framework for organizing and understanding areas of human study concerned with the production and perception of meaning." (page 129) This thought takes structuralism to religion as religions have been developed by humans primarily to answer the question "What is the meaning of my life?"

"The elements of structure are embedded in the human brain and determine its activity in a mathematical way. Thus, what was found in language should appear in other areas as well...Jakobson realized that analysis of speech problems could reveal structural problems of the human mind studied by psychoanalysis." (page 154) This realization has helped countless people suffering from speech problems such as stuttering and cluttering. The problem is in the person's brain structure and explains why it can be linked to familial mental illness. This then led aid through medications which was a huge break through.

"These fields, therefore, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, and economics...all involve the structural elements that are hidden inside the human brain and the human subconscious. To reach that subconscious level, one must study the behaviors of individuals and societies and seek to identify the latent structures in the brain.

The way the brain processes information...is by using symbolism. The symbolism is what structural analysis is designed to uncover. Structure is thus a code, consisting of concise symbols. The symbolism inherent in brain function follows mathematical rules that are tantamount to the ideas developed by Bourbaki: the notions of closeness, transformation, groupings, and other of the "mother structures" studied by the group" (page 155). Yup. It all boils down to mathematics. Everything human is math. Beautiful.