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Math isn’t a tool, and man didn’t make it. Math is the secret language of the universe that describes existence. Man is a toddler who’s beginning to pick up a
by koprulusector 4y ago
Math isn’t a tool, and man didn’t make it.
Math is the secret language of the universe that describes existence.
Man is a toddler who’s beginning to pick up and use the language.
- Kinrany 4y agoA language is a tool for communication. Who is using math to communicate, except for people?
- ksd482 4y agoI disagree. Math is a language completely invented by humans to describe reality as they perceive it. It's an extremely sophisticated language, beautiful even but a language nonetheless. For e.g., an apple existed before the word or even language was invented. Similarly, the physical reality around us existed without the language to describe existed.
- mr_mitm 4y agoThere are entire fields of math that have nothing to do with describing reality. As an example, category theory is completely detached from reality. You're still thinking of math as a tool, but it is much more than that.
- qsort 4y ago> category theory is completely detached from reality One could very easily object to that, computable structure theory sounds very concrete indeed. But even taking that statement at face value, you are not really disproving that math is a tool. It is a tool for describing formal thinking. For example, a forgetful functor from Grp to Set is the formalization of the idea that you may take the underlying set from a group "forgetting" about the algebraic structure. There is value in having language and tools to describe that kind of thinking, even if it is very abstract. The choice of which mathematical objects to study is basically arbitrary. This is not to say that math is useless, quite the opposite. It's probably the most consequential human invention after writing, but I'm very skeptical of trying to assign metaphysical meanings to it.
- defrost 4y ago> but I'm very skeptical of trying to assign metaphysical meanings to it. Let's leave aside talk of God and such things and think instead of how many of the worlds more prolific mathematicians have talked of their work and their "discoveries". They feel they explore a landscape outside of that which you can kick and "discover" things that were always true, before they came and after they die. Many are not approaching the field as toolmakers and engineers seeking a practical means to assist in building want they want but as explorers seeking new ground and hitherto unknown objects and their relationships.
- ksd482 4y agoI am not. My comment doesn’t encapsulate the entire idea of mathematics. And, that’s kind of my point. I agree that math is much more than a tool. Much much more. Regardless, it is a language. Not just to describe reality, but also abstract ideas. And I believe this encapsulates the entirety of what math is, unless I left out something major.
- cma 4y agoCategory theory has actually had a big recent boom in quantum physics. Hardy's beautiful number theory math he thought was pure and impractical ended up used heavily in encrypting payment details for online pizza delivery etc.
- adamsmith143 4y agoTo use your own analogy. Theorems, constructs and proofs existed in "Math Space" before they were discovered by humans.
- bigbillheck 4y agoThere's nothing in math that was not put there by human thought.