Without algebra and algebraic notation, I think general mathematical principles could still be explained, but they would be much more wordy. Instead of saying a variable, I think people would describe things similarly to how the Babylonians described quantities with ush, sag, lagab, etc. Unless we’re talking about before the Babylonians even had these traces of syncopated algebraic terms to use, then I think they would somehow use words to describe the idea of the quantity. Making generalizations very wordy but still possible.
I don’t necessarily think mathematics is all about generalization and abstraction. A lot of mathematics, especially at the high school level, can be generalized into formulas and processes, but mathematics is such a broad subject that I don’t think everything is expressed that way. Without algebra, I think I would have a really hard time solving problems because symbolic notation is so ingrained in how I think. Reading the worksheet, I had a hard time wrapping my head around their solutions, and kept wanting to refer to modern notation because that's the language I'm used to. Especially as they also use base 60 while I’m so accustomed to base 10. Though I can imagine for them, this rhetorical algebra and base 60 felt very natural, just as symbolic algebra and base 10 feel to me
I definitely think students go through similar stages as they learn algebra. Many students can solve a word problem when the unknown is described in words, but when variables are introduced, they don’t always make the connection immediately. I’ve seen it happen often when tutoring, and it can take time for students to learn this new way of representing unknowns.
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