5 ms·
to get super meta, one could say that the opposite is true: arithmetic requires categories
by qppo 6y ago
to get super meta, one could say that the opposite is true: arithmetic requires categories
- dan-robertson 6y agoExcept this isn’t really true in the common sense meaning (schoolchildren do arithmetic fine without knowing about category theory) or in the formal sense you’re trying to get at (there are formal axiomatic foundations which arithmetic can be based on which do not need category theory. A simple proof is by causality: arithmetic was successfully formalised before category theory was invented)
- housecarpenter 6y agoYou should read the famous book by Linderholm, Mathematics Made Difficult