Mathematics as Play and Possibility
WELCOME
I invite you to enjoy, as free play, mathematics and learning more generally. To see learning as a realm where we humans slow down and relax with each other. I reject coercive or competitive schooling and the pointless, destructive pressures arising out of it.
The title of this website reflects the subtitle of James P. Carse’s 1980s text, Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility – a book a former English professor introduced me to during my second year in college. The notions of play and possibility, as subtle and intricate as they are, inform much of my thinking, especially about mathematical activity and its many roles in human life, current and historical.
My writings here and elsewhere reflect a variety of interests. Feel free to have a look around and reach out (a contact form is below). Over the coming months, I will add more material to this site.
Vectors and Arrows: A Blog
About Me
Hello, I’m Glen Eric Meyer, an educator, consultant, writer, and philosopher living and working in Austin, Texas. Throughout my life I have discovered and rediscovered mathematics, working through its complexities and frustrations to find its puzzles, depths, surprises, and enticements, but also encountering its underside, its entanglements with power and systems of domination.
My goal here is to share and explore these discoveries and encounters with others through writing and teaching. Please feel free to have a look around and reach out.
I grew up in the American Midwest and have an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Iowa and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Minnesota (with a specialization in the philosophy of science, including a minor in the studies of science and technology). I have worked in a variety of occupations: as both a high school teacher and a college professor, in artificial intelligence (as an ontologist, developing ontologies and designing inference paths), and, more recently, as a ratemaking property and casualty insurance actuary, both in private industry and in rate regulation. A few years ago I left this last occupation to return to my true passions: teaching and writing.
