Discussion: Inequality in Our World 

Inequalities are present in our everyday lives. You may budget to spend less than $100 on groceries or plan to spend more than 2 hours a week exercising. Both of these statements involve budgeting resources, such as time and money. However, unlike last week where only one value could solve our T=15h equation, these statements allow for a variety of situations that meet the requirements for a solution. For example, in looking at the grocery situation, a bill of $90, $85, or $98 would all fit the criteria of spending less than $100. 

To break this down further, you might assume that a grocery bill of $90 would include items purchased from different departments of the grocery store. Meats, vegetables, dairy, and paper products might be subgroups represented by the overall group—groceries. The value of each subgroup would not be equally represented in your grocery bill. 

What other situations can you imagine where the variables, or subgroups, do not equally represent the whole group?

In this Discussion, you examine the groups and subgroups that may exist in your field of study or current workplace. You also explore how to diagram these groups using abstract math. 

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the TED Talk on abstract math, paying particular attention to how Eugenia Cheng (2018) explains how pure mathematics models social inequality.
• Think about an overall group that may exist in your environment.
• Identify three subgroups within the overall group, and diagram these groups as Cheng (2018) did in the presentation using the following format where a/b/c are your individual subgroups:
  • {a,b,c}
  • {a,b}, {a,c}, {b,c}
  • {a}, {b}, {c}
  • { }
• Think about two inequality statements that can be inferred from the diagram referring to the specific groups that you have just created. For example, if a represents dogs and c represents cats then and inequality could be: dogs>cats.
• Using the problem-solving techniques from Week 1, decide if these inequalities are true based on the overall group you selected.
• Consider one potential bias or inequality that may exist in either Level 2 or Level 3 of your diagram and think about how it would create an unequal ranking between the elements on this level.
• Think about what the inequality would be in the context of your situation and think about how it would be expressed as a mathematical inequality.
• Consider who might be interested in these results, and why.

Post at least 2 paragraphs responding to the following prompts: 

• Provide diagram created based on your example of social inequality.
• Write one inequality statements that can be inferred from your diagram, referring to your specific sub-groups (not the variables a/b/c).
• Explain whether you feel these inequalities are true.
• Express your conclusion as a mathematical inequality.
• Explain who might be interested in these results, and why.