Descartes called them "imaginary" numbers because he didn't understand them well and didn't like them. He thought they were ugly and therefore false. If sine,

Descartes called them "imaginary" numbers because he didn't understand them well and didn't like them. He thought they were ugly and therefore false. If sine, cosine, and tangent had instead been named divine, codivine and tantric we'd be having ridiculous conversations about how magical they are too. What do you think the universe would look like if things didn't fit together? Sit with that thought for a little while, really let it sink in. Oh, hey, it wouldn't be a universe. “This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.” -Douglas Adams Our sense of beauty is formed by the universe. It is not remarkable that the universe is made of systems that seem elegant to the beings that live in it.