Math and Magic Blog 1 - Pamela L.

When I began my major, I used to believe that math was logical, correct, and a simple problem to be solved. However, the further into math I got, the less numbers I used, and the less “real” math became. Math went from 100% logical to “this doesn’t make any sense”. Honestly, I still think that math doesn’t quite make sense. I don’t understand how certain things work and why, but I think that’s the beauty of it. Math is infinite. No one can ever understand everything because some things are just humanly impossible, our brains can’t put the concepts together.

When it comes to magic, I had never really given it much thought. It never occurred to me that magic tricks worked because of math. I knew that they worked for a reason, and that there was a “trick” that the unknown eye wasn’t able see when magic was performed. I just thought magicians were good at tricking others and creating illusions. I did think that math could be magical, but never that magic could be mathematical.

Although I do think of them as separate things, I know that truthfully, math is behind everything and anything. It doesn’t surprise me to know that many, if not all, magic tricks work because of math. I don’t think math can be separated from anything. Like I said, I think that behind anything in this universe, there is a math problem. It is hard for me to see, however, that stereotypical tricks like pulling a bunny out of a hat, or cutting a person in half, could have something so numerical behind them.

I really can’t recall any magic tricks that I have seen. Most of the tricks I’ve seen have either been through TV or online. It’s hard for me to convince myself there is math behind them since I know things can be altered via technology.