>(as opposed to other abstract objects such as patonician ideas, or more commonly gods) Well neither of those two deal with counting... We already know (histor

>(as opposed to other abstract objects such as patonician ideas, or more commonly gods) Well neither of those two deal with counting... We already know (historically, empirically) that counting & manipulating 'stuff' is what works for making applicable theories. Mathematical abstraction preserves those "traits", & makes the object more general - ie more flexible. Chess for example is about counting, but it's not explicitly written in a form that allows you to drop it in a theory. I think the important thing is the traits aren't arbitrary. They were forced on people, eg you need to learn counting if you want to keep track of your goats.