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MATH ANXIETY
Aden Evens
Published online: 09 Jun 2010.

To cite this article: Aden Evens (2000) MATH ANXIETY, Angelaki: Journal of the
Theoretical Humanities, 5:3, 105-115

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 ANGELAKI
journa l of the the oretical humani tie s
v olum e 5 n umber 3 dece mber 200 0

H ere is a math problem, a puzzle. You

remove the plastic wrap, and open the lid.
Pieces swim before you: amorphous blobs that
overlap and stick to each other. As you begin to
fit uncooperative pieces together, contours form,
edges rigidify into straight lines or complex
curves, knots appear and twist the goo of a piece
into an unmanageable tangle, or a perfect sphere,
or a Julia set. Pieces break apart, generate spon-
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taneously, cover and eat each other. As pieces are

brought into proximity, they take on not only
contours or shapes, but also colors and patterns
on their surfaces. Sometimes pieces “match,”
sometimes they clash, sometimes you can’t tell.
This makes the puzzle significantly more
complex (!), and the pieces even harder to place;
an exact fit is out of the question. When one solu- aden evens
tion loses its promise, you shuffle pieces and try
others. In every solution, some pieces fit better
than others, and some don’t fit at all. It needn’t
be emphasized that this puzzle has no correct
MATH ANXIETY
solution; it determines itself only as it is being fit
together. this kind of puzzle; they demand to be solved,
Such a puzzle might sound rather boring; no but one cannot say in advance what pieces may
right answers, no logic, no sense; just pieces be brought to bear in response to this demand or
doing as they will. But look closer. Wherever you how the problem will develop as one responds to
look, the pieces tangle, meld, and shift in relation it. Confronted with a problem, one draws on bits
to each other. Not just shape, but everything of history, geography, biology, physics, psychol-
about a piece is in flux, from color to weight, ogy, rhetoric, aesthetics, etc. Not just anything
strength to poverty, what it ate for breakfast to will make sense in relation to a problem, but one
how it deals with gravity. This flux is not a chaos, cannot foretell what might end up making sense.
far from it, for in chaos there can be no issue of When your boyfriend threatens to call your wife
color or weight, strength or poverty. Chaos does and tell her “everything,” you’ve got a problem,
not admit of any sense, whereas this puzzle makes and who knows what constellations this situation
lots of sense, it generates sense as its pieces act will lead to? When you have an hour to kill and
and react in relation to each other. Color and aren’t sure what to do, this is a problem; prob-
weight, affect and defect are sensible, and the lems may even be welcome, but pleasant or
way that these sensible notions fit together is how unpleasant, whatever the outcome, the problem
sense is made. calls for something, demands something not-yet-
How would you work on this puzzle? You determined of you and of the world. I mean to
already are working on it. I mean, you have prob- emphasize here the complex and open nature
lems. Doesn’t everyone? And problems are just of problems, the way they do not break down

ISSN 0969-725X print/ISSN 1469-2899 online/00/030105-11 © 2000 Taylor & Francis Ltd and the Editors of Angelaki
DOI: 10.1080/0969725002003478 8

105
 math anxiety
cooperatively, dissolve into clear and distinct that give them meaning in the world. Sense is
elements. They drag otherwise unrelated people, thus produced after the fact, and ontogenesis
places, and objects into the mix. Use your shoe describes the generation of objects but not their
for a pillow. Freeze your compact discs. Hire a relations. This standard metaphysics often
philosopher to reorganize your company. Maybe explains genesis as a spontaneous modal flip
dogs are good at sexing chicks. Your problem (from possible to actual), and sense as an extra-
happens as solutions are attempted and neous imposition of a human perspective on a
discarded, feeding into the problem to alter its fully formed pre-existent object. By contrast,
parameters; new obstacles and new paths may Deleuze’s account holds that genesis is not a
crop up at any time, any place. Think laterally, sudden change of modes, but a process of deter-
act locally. mination, beginning not from a previous deter-
When rain drips onto a leaf, the paths it takes mined state (the possible), but from the
across that uneven surface are solutions to a undetermined. This process is a puzzle being fit
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complex problem at the juncture of differential together, an insistent demand or pressure. To

topology, fluid dynamics, evolutionary biology, understand why things are the way they are, we
and metaphysics. If this problem is a puzzle, look at what problems they respond to, what
then who is the puzzler?; the pieces – water, leaf, forces create just these tensions, conflicts, and
time, gravity, inertia, happenstance, etc. – are congruencies. Things make sense when
the only agents. As such, the problem becomes connected to their problematic origins.
clear only in the course of its solution; one The problem unifies its cases of solution, not
recognizes the problem and its boundaries after because each element of the solution is inter-
the fact, or as it is working itself out. The prob- changeable, not because each part of the solution
lem makes sense of its solutions, and these solu- responds to the problem in the same way, but
tions make sense only when one grasps their because the entire solution responds to the prob-
unity in the problem. lem together. The parts of a machine do not each
I am still discussing puzzles, but these puzzle do the same thing, but they are unified by virtue
pieces do not come shrink-wrapped in a box. of the machine they constitute. The problem is a
Instead, you find them all around you, wherever machine, a function or field, and this field orders
there is a tension, wherever something must be and skews the objects to which it gives rise. The
done, wherever things are created, destroyed, problem thus creates a kind of continuity, a
altered, augmented, combined, and juxtaposed. continuity that connects its cases of solution in
Anywhere that sense is made, it is made by a sense and sensibility, but the various parts of the
problem working itself through, a puzzle that solution are heterogeneous, each playing its own
demands to be worked and re-worked, and whose role in relation to the problem and to the other
pieces cannot but respond to that demand. This elements of the solution. Even to talk of solutions
puzzle is ontogenesis, the way things become here is misleading, for the most problematic
what they become. At the beginning of Chapter problems do not disappear in their solutions.
Four of Difference and Repetition,1 Gilles Rather, the so-called solution is only that
Deleuze offers an account of ontogenesis as a moment when the problem reaches its greatest
problematic puzzle, pieces that pose and respond degree of clarity, when the forces that constitute
to problems, acting and interacting to determine the problem ally themselves clearly on one side
the relations that make sense of them or make or another. If we consider only this ultimatum,
them sensible, give them character. The problem, this static snapshot of the problem, the problem
in working itself out, determines both the disappears. If instead we focus on the process by
elements that figure in its solutions and the which the problem comes to be, then we survey
(sensible) qualities of those elements. To become not only the elements of the problem, but the
is to become sensible. The dominant history of determination of their relations, the generation of
Western metaphysics holds that things first of all their sense in what Deleuze refers to as the prob-
come to be, only later to assume the relationships lematic Idea.

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 evens
Why does he call this puzzle – that ties together meaningfully as a means of working out
together its elements into the continuity of a a problem. One cannot say in advance what will
sensible solution – an “Idea”? Platonic Ideas take shape, which forces will be significant,
gather a number of objects under a common which events will stand out, who will play a
term, such as “beautiful” or “virtuous.” The pivotal role. Guests arrive at a cocktail party with
participants in an Idea share that Idea in all sorts of history, tendencies, characters, but
common, though there is nothing else in particu- with no set plan. The situation itself is a problem.
lar that they need share. That is, participation in What is going to happen? Whom will Ed talk to?
the Idea is irreducible. Still, participation in an Is it going to get political again? Are there
Idea is not haphazard, for it makes sense: the set enough hors d’oeuvres? And if the host poses
of participants in an Idea forms a sensible contin- these problems to herself, she may be mostly
uum. For example, the Idea of human phenotype ineffectual as the problem of the party will
is irreducible: there are no necessary and suffi- undoubtedly find its own solution, agreeable or
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cient elements that make a body human. But otherwise. Over the course of the evening, the
there are plenty of characteristics of human guests permute their arrangements according to
bodies, and these characteristics vary continu- the problematic dynamic determined by their
ously–height, density, skin color, eye color, shape singular personalities, their prior relationships,
of head, etc. The Idea of the body yields a conti- the availability of alcohol, the style of music and
nuity, a mass of individual bodies that range locations of the loudspeakers, and who-knows-
continuously in a variety of ways. what else. The result is a complex continuity of
Kant, as well, uses Ideas to make sense of movement that constitutes the only sense of the
things, to determine continuities, but unlike cocktail party and is unified only by the problem
Plato, he does not begin with ready-made things that inheres in the color of each tie, the strength
which must be parceled out, sorted into the of each drink, and the wit in every quip.
correct Ideas. Kant makes a great leap when he The problematic Idea, says Deleuze, provides
focuses on the process by which continuities a “systematic unity” (169) to its cases of solution;
form. The understanding makes sense of the but the unity that the puzzle gives to its pieces is
world by fitting it into concepts and their rela- never final nor is the fit ever exact. Instead of a
tions. Concepts alone are inadequate to make single big picture on its surface, the puzzle is
sense of anything; they form isolated cases that always broken by unaligned edges and sudden
offer no reason for their existence. Only by relat- changes of color from piece to piece. That is why
ing concepts in the problematic Idea do they bear the usual methods of investigating continuity are
relations that make sense of them, for they flawed. One attempts to start with the completed
become not isolated instances but cases of solu- puzzle and work backwards, taking it apart into
tion, responses to a problem that determines its pieces to determine what it’s made of and how
their histories and gives them a sufficient reason. it’s put together. But this method is doomed to
Whereas concepts are determinate things, fail, for breaking the puzzle into pieces yields
comprising specific qualities, the manifold of only smaller puzzles but hides the process of
intuition that we must make sense of is wholly determination by which those pieces take shape.
indeterminate, a vague jumble with no particular The philosophical investigation of sense generally
characteristics, nothing accessible to the under- starts with one determined state of affairs and
standing. The process by which the world is attempts to trace it back to another determined
divided into concepts is thus a process of deter- state of affairs whence it came, searching for the
mination, from the undetermined to the determi- reasons for things among those very things.
nate or from manifold to concept. Ontogenesis is thought to proceed from determi-
In Kant, the Idea still gives rise to continuity, nation to determination, thus ignoring the
but it is no longer, as in Plato, the continuity of process by which things become determined. If
a common quality. The complex continuity we start with the continuous number line made
generated by the problematic Idea brings things of points, we can break that line down into

107
 math anxiety

Fig. 1. A sequence of points, s0, s1, etc., that approaches the point P. Note that no matter how small an interval we
consider around P, at some point in the sequence of sn , all further points in the sequence will be contained in that
interval.

smaller and smaller continuous pieces, but we close to the center of the interval, since no matter
will never discover what makes the line or those how small we make the interval, the tail of the
pieces continuous, no matter how small the parts line is still contained in it. The fundamental
get. Working backwards from continuity to its concept of calculus, the concept of the limit, is
cause will not succeed. Instead, we must discover defined in just such finitist terms. A sequence of
an ideal cause of continuity, and examine how terms is said to approach a limit when it can be
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that cause can generate the continuity alongside shown that no matter how small an interval you
the continuous things. We must acknowledge choose around that limit, there is some point in
that things and their senses come to be simulta- the sequence after which every term is contained
neously and interdependently. As that ideal cause within that interval (Figure 1). So, in proving
of continuity, the problematic Idea that draws something about limit points, we only ever
things together into sense, Deleuze proposes the consider intervals of finitely small size, for one
mathematical differential, dx. can of course always find a smaller interval.
I did mention at the outset that this was a Likewise, in proofs using the differential, we
math problem. A math problem, even a calculus never actually involve the infinite; rather, we use
problem, seems at first to be a rather poor exam- variables, which are manipulated as arbitrarily
ple of a problem. The math problems one finds small (but still finitely small) numbers. The
at the end of the chapter in math textbooks just important point here is that as long as our
sit there, seemingly indifferent to whether or not symbolism reduces the limit, and by reference
they are solved. (No doubt, because they have the differential as well, to finite quantities and
already been solved.) Indeed, most of us feel variables that represent such quantities, the limit
little compulsion to attempt a solution. They are and the differential become just more quantities,
not very problematic problems. Fermat’s Last a finite value that is special only in that it is
Theorem, on the other hand, certainly was a unspecified or unknown. Without the power of
problem: it begged to be solved.2 Deleuze discov- problem, the differential loses its unique
ers in archaic interpretations of the differential a dynamic, and we lose sight of its unique powers.
problematic power, the power to problematize. The limit is Lesson One in a modern calculus
How does the differential, dx, cause problems? class. This lesson teaches the mathematical
In the modern calculus, the differential is ill- formalisms that correspond to the notion of
suited to be the ideal cause of continuity, because “arbitrarily small.” So, one learns which symbols
it is understood on a finitist model, or, at best, as to use and what rules govern the manipulation of
an infinitesimal. In other words, the modern those symbols, or what constitutes legitimate
interpretation of the differential makes it out to proof in the domain of the arbitrarily small.
be an arbitrarily small quantity. In modern calcu- Lesson Two makes use of Lesson One to show
lus, when we use the differential (say, to prove how to take a derivative. Though we are intro-
something or to take a derivative), what we do is duced to it by means of the limit or differential
to demonstrate that something-or-other is true at its core, the derivative is no sooner learned
for an arbitrarily small quantity. Usually, it is a than the differential is discarded, and even its
question of intervals: a line “approaches” a point symbol, dx, is often omitted. Calculating deriva-
when, no matter how tiny an interval around the tives becomes a matter of the rote manipulation
point you take, it still encloses the end of the of symbols, and the intimate relationship
line. That line, we reason, must get arbitrarily between the derivative and the differential is

108
 evens
forgotten, a distant murky memory that won’t be
on the exam. If the differential still appears in
certain formulas, it is only an annoying vestige of
the higher mathematics that birthed it.
So, let me remind you of the relationship
between limits and derivatives. Derivatives are
first introduced by posing this problem: given a
curve that represents some function, called the
primitive function, and a point on that curve,
what is the slope of the tangent to the curve at
that point? (See Figure 2.) Well, why do we care?
First, we must define some terms (and these are
paraphrases with attendant inaccuracies). The
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tangent at a given point is the line that touches

the curve at that point without crossing the
curve. The slope of the tangent is how steep it is,
mathematically a matter of the relation between
the change in the vertical direction and the
change in the horizontal, or the increase in y
divided by the increase in x, or “the rise over the
run” (see Figure 3).
What is the significance of the slope of the
tangent to the primitive function at a given
point? It tells us the slope of the curve at that
point. And the slope of a curve at a point is how
fast it is changing there, how quickly the curve is
“moving” up or down. A steep tangent means a
Fig. 2. A curve and the line tangent to it at the point (x,y). steep curve at that point, one that is rising or
falling quickly. A flat
tangent means a curve
that is not moving up or
down at all at that point.
If the curve represents
distance over time, then
the slope of the tangent at
a point tells us the veloc-
ity at that time. If the
curve represents popula-
tion over time, then the
slope tells us the growth
rate. And if the curve
represents the elevation of
land not over time but
over some area, then the
slope of the tangent repre-
sents the slope of the land
at any given point. In all,
it is quite a useful calcu-
Fig. 3. Four line segments, with their slopes indicated. lation to make.

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 math anxiety
But finding the slope of the line tangent to a which simplifies to
curve turns out not to be such a simple matter.
Since the tangent touches the curve without cross- lim f(x+D x)- f(x)
D xÞ0
D x
ing it (nearby), it only touches it in one point
(locally). But it takes two points to define a line provides the general formula for the derivative of
and determine its characteristics such as slope. f(x) (see Figure 5).
Given two points, it is easy to find the slope of the Here, D x represents a finitely small quantity, a
line that runs through them: it is just the differ- finite and measurable distance, that is allowed to
ence between the y values divided by the differ- approach zero. So it comes as no surprise that the
ence between the x values. If the two points are differential, dx, which is defined as D x “on its
(x1,y1) and (x2,y2), then the slope of the line they way to 0,” should also be regarded in modern
define is (y1–y2)/(x1–x2) (see Figure 4). calculus in finite terms. In school, we begin with
discrete whole numbers:
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0, 1, 2, 3, and so on.
Eventually, we fill in
the gaps between these
numbers using ratios
of them to produce ratio-
nal numbers (fractions).
Then, we fill gaps be-
tween rationals by taking
Fig. 4. The slope of this line is (y1–y2 )/(x1–x2). sequences of rational
numbers such that the numbers in the sequence
Since we know the function, and can calculate get closer and closer together – in other words,
it at any point, we know at least one point on the
line in question, the point of tangency; but how
do we calculate the slope with only one point
specified? The method is to choose a second
point on the curve some distance away, and
calculate the slope of the line that runs through
both of those points. This yields an approxima-
tion of the slope of the tangent. The closer the
second point is to the point of tangency, the
closer will be the approximation of the slope of
the tangent.3 To find the slope of the tangent at
a point, we must take the limit – as the “other”
point approaches the point of tangency – of the
slope of the line between the two points. Instead
of x1 and x2, we can represent the two x coordi-
nates as x (the x-value of the point of tangency)
and x+D x (the x-value of a point D x away from
x), and allow D x to approach 0. The two points
are (x, f(x)) and (x+ D x, f(x+ D x)). The slope is
the difference between the y values ( f(x) and Fig. 5. Finding the slope of the tangent: a line drawn
between two points on a curve. As D x gets smaller, the
f(x+ D x)) divided by the difference between the x lower point gets closer to the upper point, and the line
values (x and x+ D x). Taking the limit, gets closer to being tangent. The formula for the deriv-
ative is the slope of this line as D x approaches 0:

lim f(x)- f(x+D x) lim f(x+D x)- f(x).

D xÞ0
x- (x+D x) D xÞ0
D x

110
 evens
we take a limit – and this produces irrational precedes numbers and intervals of finitely small
numbers, completely filling out the number line. size, but the differential relation, dy/dx, precedes
Finally, this concept of an arbitrarily small inter- the “primitive” function whose slope it is said to
val, or limit, is applied not just to the numbers represent. In calculus class we are presented with
but to their relations, functions, where it a function and told to differentiate it, to take the
becomes the differential. Instead of producing derivative or produce the differential relation. In
the differential from the number line in this Deleuze’s rereading of the calculus, the primitive
manner by an operation on arbitrarily small function does not precede the differential rela-
intervals, Deleuze reverses the usual priority to tion, but is only the ultimate result or byproduct
start with the differential and to generate number of the progressive determination of that relation.
from it. That is, he places the differential at the The differential is a problem, and its solution
origin of number, as the power of difference that leads to the primitive function.
deviates from itself to generate the entire number We have thus far been considering just one
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line and eventually the points that populate it. point at a time, though it could have been any
The differential is not a finite distance, not even point. But inasmuch as it generates the primitive
an ever smaller one. If the differential is an infin- function, the differential relation characterizes
itesimal, it is a substantive and positive infinites- not only one point but a whole range of points,
imal; not a finite approach toward zero as modern an entire function. It is not a relation of variables,
calculus would have it, but a movement of zero where one is considered independent (x), and the
away from itself. The differential, dx, is a torsion other dependent (y). The differentials, dx and dy,
that inflects the point, x. It is the instantaneous do not take on single values nor do they vary over
velocity of x, x being only the apparent point of a range of values; they are neither particular nor
departure for a movement that precedes any general, but universal, inasmuch as their relation
departure. establishes an irreducible character that is not
Though we can make some sense of x by constant, but incorporates multiplicity.
itself, as a variable that represents any of certain In other words, the differential relation is not
specifiable values, we can make almost no sense a formula that relates x to y over some range of
of dx by itself. Inasmuch as it is a movement, values for x, though this is how we are taught to
it precedes those coordinates (x and y) that interpret it: in school, the differential relation, or
eventually measure it, an arrow set against the derivative, is just another formula, another func-
void. As Deleuze says, on its own it is “strictly tion akin to the primitive function. Rather, the
nothing” (171). It obtains a value only in differential relation relates x to y not in breadth,
relation. dx, though undetermined, points toward over a range of values, but in depth; it operates
its own determination in relation to another in each point on the function, condensing the
differential, dy. The above formula for the deriv- quality, the character of the entire function into
ative necessarily involves a comparison, change every point. If you are given the value of some
in y versus change in x. Differential calculus is differentiable function at a point, then that’s
keenly interested in this relation, dy/dx, the almost all you know about the function. You
differential rise over the differential run. The have little idea how the function behaves at any
terms of this relation are neither constants nor other point; you know the function only at that
variables, for dx and dy mean nothing outside of one point. However, the existence of a derivative
their relation. They determine their relation reci- means that you can take a limit at that point, and
procally, determining each other in relation as in order to take a limit the function must be rela-
they determine the primitive function that relates tively smooth, not broken up or wildly chaotic.
x to y. The function does not jump around too much in
Deleuze’s reversal of the priority of the differ- the vicinity of that point. Which means that near
ential and the finite numbers that normally the point whose value you know, the function
define it thus carries over from Lesson One to stays relatively close to that value. If you are told
Lesson Two. It is not just that the limit itself that the differentiable function passes through

111
 math anxiety
the point (3,5), then you know that as long as x function is doing at each point. It’s not that the
is close to 3, y will be close to 5.4 You can differential relation represents the slope of the
approximate the function near that one point: function at each point; it’s that by representing
since it stays close to 5 near 3, it must look some- the slope of the function at each point, the differ-
thing like a horizontal line passing through (3,5). ential relation presents or characterizes the whole
However, if you also are given the slope of the function in each of its points.
tangent to the function at that point, then you The differential relation captures the univer-
know how quickly and in what direction the func- sal character of the whole function, and this
tion is moving near that point. Let’s say the slope overall character or shape of the function is a
at the point (3,5) is steep, maybe 100. You can matter of how many times it changes direction,
now take a better guess at the values of nearby how many bumps it has and how regularly they
points. Specifically, you can assume that, at least occur, how often it becomes infinite, and how
near that one point, the function looks like a often it crosses the x-axis. These criteria divide
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steep line passing through (3,5) with a slope of the function into pieces, whose endpoints are
100. If you also know how fast the slope is chang- defined by the critical points that mark the
ing at that point – the slope of the slope or the changes in direction, the local maxima and
value of the second derivative – then you can minima, the zero-crossings, the approach to
make an even better estimate of the behavior of infinity (Figure 6). Deleuze refers to these criti-
the function near that point. The function may cal or distinctive points as singular points, for
be steep, but is it getting steeper, or more shal- their number and relations uniquely determine
low (at that point)? The second derivative the singular character of the function itself. They
answers this question, and gives you an even are points of articulation where the function
better idea of the shape of the function near the alters its behavior: the function gets steeper to
one point you know. Third derivative: the func- the left of a singular point and shallower to the
tion is steep and getting steeper, but how quickly right; or it’s positive on one side and negative on
is it getting steeper? Etc. the other; or it’s curvy and then suddenly flat.
Note that your increasingly refined estimates These singular points break the function into
of the behavior of the function do not rely on the parts and so determine the type or species of
formula for the derivative nor on any formula, function in question. We can judge the kind of
but only on the actual values of the derivatives. function according to the number and arrange-
You are given one point on a function and a ment of its distinctive points. Trigonometric
sequence of numbers representing the values of functions tend to have an infinite number of
the derivatives of the function at that point, and distinctive points with a certain regular recur-
from these numbers, you can reconstruct an rence. (A sine wave has an infinite number of
approximation of the whole function not just at peaks and valleys, an infinity of maxima and
that one point, but also in an area around that minima.) Polynomial functions have a finite
point. Each successive (value of the) derivative at number of distinctive points, one fewer than the
that point provides a more accurate sense of the degree of the polynomial. (Think of the
shape of the whole function. This process of parabola, a binomial, with its single minimum or
successive approximation is not merely heuristic; maximum.) Capturing the character of the prim-
in fact, if you know the values of all the deriva- itive function, the differential also holds the key
tives of a function at a given point, you can to the singular points, for where the primitive
construct a polynomial, another function, that is function has a peak, its tangent will be horizon-
equivalent to the primitive function near that tal, so its slope will be zero; and where it
point. This is the sense in which the differential approaches infinity, its slope too will become
is a universal: the differential packs into each infinite (see Figure 6). By examining the number
point the nature of the entire function, for the and distribution of zeros and infinities in the
differential relation generates not the value of the differential relation, we can determine the
function, but its behavior, its character, what the species of primitive function.

112
 evens
tions that take place in
this instant. Problems
determine themselves
incrementally and always
in relation; the pieces of
the problem don’t fall
into place until they are
already solved, hesitating,
negotiating, calculating in
a game of strategy and
diplomacy with goals to
be determined as the
game is played. Problems
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do not come out of

nowhere, though it may
sometimes seem so, as
they collapse, in an
instant, the gap between
the vague dread of recip-
rocal determination and
the abject terror of
complete determination.
Fig. 6. Each of the circles surrounds a singular or
distinctive point, where the curve has a local maximum Consider the increas-
or minimum. Note that the tangent at each of the ingly successful attempts to harness the differen-
circled points is flat, so its slope equals 0. tial power of the problem in quantum computers.
Classical computers deal only with pseudo-prob-
The differential relation, dy/dx, applies to each lems, problems already solved, since the condi-
point and also to the universal character of the tions of the problem and the number of possible
entire function. Thus, the reciprocal determina- solutions are strictly determined in advance, and
tion of dx and dy in each point is simultaneously always boil down to a choice among two alterna-
a reciprocal determination of the character of the tives. There is no problem in the problems tack-
whole function. Reciprocal determination occurs led by classical computers; we can’t even pose a
at once point by point and part by part, deter- real problem to such a computer, much less
mining the shape of the whole function as it deter- arrive at a solution. Quantum computers, on the
mines the points that constitute it. The function other hand, survey not one value but a range at
thus takes shape gradually, progressively, as the a time, allowing each “variable” not only to vary
singular points shift and glide relative to each but to statistically inhabit multiple and infinites-
other, tense and relax to alter their configuration. imally distinct values at once. A physical quan-
A problem forms like a soap bubble stretched tum bit can be 0, or 1, or in between, or
across the wire outline of an abstract geometric something else altogether, since the bit is in fact
figure. How to connect the vertices most effi- a wave, and the differences between one value
ciently, how to find the correct degree of curva- and another are not immaculate, but shifting and
ture, how to distribute density so as to bend subtle. Of course, the equations that describe the
without breaking? And when a weakness is value of the quantum bit (qubit) are filled with
stretched beyond its breaking point, the bubble differentials, and these do not disappear until the
snaps into a new shape, determining new criteria, wave collapses into its final determination.
new boundary conditions, posing and solving a Quantum bits do not collapse into specific values
new problem in a flash, so that one would never until they have solved the problem, until they
suspect the whole network of differential calcula- find a mutually acceptable solution that deter-

113
 math anxiety
mines not only the final
outcome but also the nature
of the problem itself.
Qubits can be entangled,
such that they only
operate conjointly, posing
a differential and statisti-
cal problem of reciprocal
determination. Quantum
computers are thus unlike
their classical cousins,
which begin and end with
already determined possi-
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bilities for individual bits.

They pose and solve prob- Fig. 7. The curve is a graph of part of the function,
lems more like artists, who must generate the 1/(1+x). The dashed line shows the domain of conver-
right stroke or choose the right materials or gence of a power series for this function centered at 0.
Outside of this domain, the power series is undefined,
invent the right sound that will advance the so we would require more than one power series to
composition. (What artist would not be tortured? approximate the entire function.
They deal exclusively with problems, problems
of determination.) the series of infinite order polynomials they
I discussed earlier how the values of the deriv- represent. But there is a problem with power
atives for a function at a given point allow the series: they only represent the primitive function
construction of a polynomial that is equivalent to in some interval, possibly a very small one,
that function near that point. Specifically, these around their center point. They are only guaran-
values are used to determine the coefficients of a teed to represent part of a function. Far from its
polynomial called a power series or Taylor center, a power series may no longer be equal to
series.5 Incidentally, we are probably now up to the primitive function, and it may even become
Lesson Fifteen or Twenty in first-year calculus. undefined. Singular points divide a function into
Given a differentiable function, by taking deriva- parts, and each part can have a different power
tives of that function at a particular point, much series to represent it. Deleuze thus raises this
as I described earlier, we can produce a power question: for any particular function, can it be
series representation of the function. The point at constructed from just one power series over its
which the derivatives are taken is called the entire domain, or must it be built in pieces from
center of the power series. For example, the multiple power series (see Figure 7)?
power series for sin x centered at 0 is Much rides on this question of the number of
power series. If only one is required, then the
x3 x5 x7 ... n x
2n+1
sin x= x- + - + +(- 1) + ... entire function is built according to one overrid-
3! 5! 7! (2n+1)!
ing principle, and there is a smooth and unbro-
Again, Deleuze reverses the usual priority. ken path from any point on the function to any
Whereas we normally begin with the primitive other point. A function can be regarded as a rule
function and generate the power series, he for transformation, and a single universal power
regards the power series as a way of constructing series guarantees that this transformation will
the primitive function. Since the power series is carry any point on the function to any other with
itself derived from the differential relation, it is no complications, no convolutions. But if any
the differential which is powerful, and exercises point can be smoothly transformed into any
its power to generate the primitive function, the other, then we have eliminated radical difference.
sensible solution. Sine and cosine, logarithm and Deleuze opposes himself here to Leibniz, who
exponent become just a convenient shorthand for effectively builds his differential calculus and his

114
 evens
monadic philosophy one out of the other. Leibniz that must be constantly pieced together again,
insists on smooth transformation, for only then that is never the same thing twice or for two
do the differences among monads boil down to different puzzlers. And this makes sense, for
mere shifts of perspective, reconcilable by a sense is not a complacent and comfortable fit, but
continuous movement without a hitch. Every a problematic puzzle that never quits asking. The
argument is resolvable, every point of view best puzzles, the ones that make the most sense,
comprehensible in terms of every other, though are also the hardest problems
vast differences might be crossed before debating and the most compelling. To
parties see eye to eye. The entire function, the solve a problem is to follow the
entire universe is summarized, captured in a differential through its twisted
single, overarching power series; and this one calculus. And you thought you
power series, that covers the whole of existence didn’t like math.
and encompasses every point of view, is God
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himself, God as the ultimate mathematical entity. notes

For Leibniz, God and the universe include only
reconcilable difference, only solvable problems – 1 Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition, trans.
Paul Patton (New York: Columbia UP, 1994)
such is the best of all possible worlds.
168ff. All further page references are to this text.
But what is so great about a world where
disagreements are only apparent, where difference 2 We might conclude that mathematicians work
is always superficial? On the contrary, Deleuze on real problems, while math students deal only
wishes to allow for disagreement that cuts to the with neutralized problems. Really though, math
students, from infants to grade schoolers to grad-
bottomless bottom of the ontology itself, a differ-
uate students, are already working on real prob-
ence that cannot heal and does not want to.
lems. Learning always proceeds by confronting a
Numerous power series are required, uncountably problem, so that the transition from math student
many, which can make for some ugly and to mathematician feels relatively smooth; one con-
contorted functions, bent and broken, but it also tinues to work in the familiar manner.
means that problems can form in spite of, or even
3 This formulation is not strictly true. But you can
because of, radical difference. The lesson never
find an interval around the point of tangency in
taught in calculus, for the teachers do not know which it is true.
it, is that sense is problematic, and the problems
that give sense to things are not limited to the 4 “Close to” is a very relative term here. In fact,
the function can vary by an arbitrarily large
solvable or the reconcilable. If we look into the
amount over an arbitrarily small interval near the
process of determination, if we look at more than point. Strictly speaking, the smoothness (or conti-
the actual states of things, but follow the differ- nuity) of the function at a given point means that no
ential lines that connect solutions to the problems matter how small a variance you want, you can
that make sense of them, then the world becomes find some neighborhood around that point in
a Pirandello play, or a garden of forking paths. which the variance is that small.
Only a problem makes sense, and problematic 5 The general formula for a power series is
sense does not tie things into a neat bundle, does a0 +a1x +a 2x 2 +a3 x 3+ ... +a n x n + ... . The a values are
not wrap up all the loose ends, but always points calculated using the values of the derivatives of the
in new directions, demands to be worked on, primitive function.
shaped into another problem with another sense.
So your puzzle really was a math problem, for
it was a differential puzzle, a puzzle of determi-
nation. The puzzle never fits together, and there Aden Evens
would be no sense in its doing so, or only a dead 76 Brantwood Road
sense, a totalizing sense that would homogenize Arlington, MA 02476-8004
the puzzle, flatten its surface, and make each USA
piece uniform. Instead, let the world be a puzzle E-mail: [email protected]