Question

the phrase “is a function of” gets used in non-mathematical speech as well as mathematical mathematical speech in sentences like, “the range of foods you like is a function of your upbringing.” what is the sentence trying to convey? is it the same use of the word “function” as the mathematical one

Answer 1

Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:

This is a very interesting question. I'm going to answer no, but don't take that to mean that the question is not worthwhile. It is.

In math, function has the meaning of considering ordered pairs. Here are 4 such ordered pairs.

(1,2)

(2,4)

(1,-3)

(5,9)

They are really not related to one another except all are ordered pairs.

Here's the math definition. If one of the x values (1,2,1,5) has more than 1 y value, you do not have a function.

1 has 2 y values,  2 and -3. Therefore the 4 points do not form a function

if you change the first (1,__) to 0 and your ordered pair becomes (0,2), all is well and you do have a function.

Whether you understand this or not, you have to see that a math function and a biology function are very different. The math function has numbers and those numbers have to obey a rule.

The biology function seems to be saying that how your mom and dad brought you up will determine what foods you like.

Those two uses are very different. How your mom brought you up is related to food. It could be anything else like "Being a knife carrying gang member is a function of where you live."