Pythagoras

Reading on Pythagoras confirmed for me that those I call “math-brains” have been eternally pitted against those I call “word-brains”. Just as the followers of Pythagoras split into two groups, which mirrored the two aspects of Pythagorean teaching, so does the division stand today. The math-brains are those who think in terms similar to the mathēmatikoi. This sect had a great reputation in the ancient world for philosophical, mathematical, musical, and astronomical knowledge, while still following a Pythagorean way of life. All these different branches of study were connected because they believed that number was the key to understanding the cosmos. Alternatively, the word-brains are those like the akousmatikoi. They are known as disciples who venerated Pythagoras’ teachings on religion and the proper way to live, but had little interest in the philosophical aspects of Pythagoreanism. Those both groups came from the same teacher, the tension on the modes of thought meant a constant clash between them.

This reminds me of the way I interact a close friend of mine. Whenever we have deep philosophical conversations (which again happens more often then you’d think), he, a math major always finds faults in what I, a philosophical thinker, says is a truth (and vice-versa). His evidence always points to some numerical meaning, or exact pattern, or something else I felt quiet blasé about. Conversely, I would push for the deeper meaning behind the patterns, I’d think about the application, the moral prescription or lack thereof, and I’m sure he was becoming quiet blasé about too. I’d notice though that both of us, much like the mathematikoi and the akousmatikoi, could reason that the entire universe is a harmonious arrangement. The irony in it all then is something I feel has reigned true even within the Pythagorean divide: that though we are disagreeing with the mechanisms to get there, the general truths we tend to agree on.