Prof. Dor Abrahamson: Learning Is in the Body: How Movement Shapes the Mathematical Mind | EPS 020

What if the way we teach mathematics is fundamentally wrong, not in its content, but in its deepest assumption: that the mind and body are separate? In this episode of Deep Thinking with Dr. Steven Stolz, Dr. Steve sits down with Prof. Dor Abrahamson of UC Berkeley's Embodied Design Research Lab, one of the world's leading researchers in embodied cognition and mathematics education, for a conversation that challenges everything we think we know about how human beings learn. Prof. Abrahamson's work sits at a remarkable intersection of cognitive science, mathematics education, philosophy of mind, and educational technology. Through his Embodied Design Research Lab at UC Berkeley, which Dr. Steve has visited in person, he has spent his career demonstrating that mathematical understanding is not abstract and disembodied, as we so often assume, but is deeply rooted in physical experience, gesture, and movement. His research has profound implications not just for how we teach mathematics, but for how we understand intelligence, ability, and learning itself. In this conversation, Dr. Steve and Prof. Abrahamson explore: ✓ Why the traditional view of mathematics as abstract and disembodied is not just incomplete but fundamentally misleading — and what embodied cognition reveals instead ✓ How our physical experience shapes mathematical understanding from the ground up — and what this means for how we design classrooms, curricula, and learning environments ✓ Why gestures are not just expressions of thought but are constitutive of thinking itself — what happens in the brain and body when students gesture while solving mathematical problems ✓ The gap between intuition and formalisation — why students develop embodied understanding through physical interaction but struggle to connect this to formal mathematical symbols, and how we can bridge this gap more effectively ✓ Enactivism versus constructivism — how enactivist theory differs from traditional constructivist approaches to learning, and what the practical implications of this theoretical shift are for mathematics education ✓ How digital technologies and innovative learning tools can enhance rather than replace the bodily dimensions of understanding — and the very real risks of getting this wrong ✓ The role of productive struggle and even "incorrect" embodied strategies in the learning process — and how educators should balance support with the freedom to work through difficulty ✓ Cultural and individual variation in embodied learning — if mathematical understanding is rooted in physical experience, and bodies interact with environments differently across cultures and individuals, how do we reconcile this with the supposed universality of mathematics ✓ What embodied cognition means for how we conceptualise intelligence, ability, and potential in educational settings — and why this matters enormously for equity and inclusion This is episode six of the 2026 season "Reconsidering Education" — a season dedicated to asking the biggest questions about what education is for, how learning actually works, and what we need to change. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music 📺 Watch on YouTube:    / @stevenstolz   📱 Follow: @DeepThinkingPod 🌐 stevenstolz.com 🔗 Prof. Dor Abrahamson: bse.berkeley.edu/dor-abrahamson 🔗 Embodied Design Research Lab: edrl.berkeley.edu #EmbodiedCognition #MathEducation #MathematicsEducation #EmbodiedLearning #DorAbrahamson #UCBerkeley #EmbodiedDesign #EDRL #LearningAndMovement #GestureAndThought #BodyAndMind #MindBodyConnection #Enactivism #Constructivism #PhilosophyOfMind #CognitiveScience #DeepThinking #DrStevenStolz #EducationPodcast #Podcast #HowWeLearn #LearningScience