Undo the math ! : managerial and organizational cognition theoretical and practical implications of cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary semiotic gaps

Undo the Math !

In a study inspired by the author's observation of the spiraling out of control use of mathematics by bankers, financiers and economists, the Western world's reliance on arithmetic and geometry is traced back, with support from the works of Medieval historian Alfred Crosby and of Anthropologist of Knowledge Paul Jorion, to its Medieval and Antiquity roots. To provide an ex-optic contrast, a comparative approach devised by Hellenist philosopher of Chinese thought François Jullien, the relationship Ancient China developed to numbers, space and time is then explored. Drawing theory from the arising contrast, leveraging Philosopher of Science Michel Bitbol's applied epistemological reflections and Organization scholar Lex Donalson's statistico-organizational theory, implications are finally developed for social scientists of all persuasions - including use of non-Peano arithmetic and of non-Euclidean geometry in social science modeling -, organization theorists - including semiotic network analyses of text content -, as well as practicing managers and staff spanning cultural boundaries - including a knowledge-merging method inspired by Aristotle's deconstruction of Greek language and Nonaka Ikujir(...)'s knowledge creation model.