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Since when is math outside the realm of science?
by jjcon 5y ago
Since when is math outside the realm of science?
- NateEag 5y agoMath is established by logic and proof. If a proof is sound, it should stand eternally. Humans are not perfect, so sometimes we are collectively mistaken about a proof's correctness. The fundamental nature of the process is still one of establishing inviolably proven facts and building on top of them. Science, on the other hand, is a never-ending iterative approximation process with occasional massive discontinuities when accepted theories are overturned. It relies on observed report and falsification of our current best guesses. No scientific "law" can ever be proven true, just labeled "not known to be wrong so far". Math is much closer to philosophy than science. It just happens to be pragmatically useful to the sciences: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unreasonable_Effectiveness_of_Mathematics_in_the_Natural_Sciences https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unreasonable_Effectivene...
- jjcon 5y agoI don't think any of that would put it outside the realm of science by any stretch though - science has its gradients, where some of it is ruled by math alone and other components are more data driven/'right until proven wrong' but it all falls under the scientific tooling and approach to the world.