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This is a curious statement. Mathematics is a description, not a prescription. When Newton says that the path of a projectile is parabolic, he does not mean tha

This is a curious statement. Mathematics is a description, not a prescription. When Newton says that the path of a projectile is parabolic, he does not mean that it is in the shape of a parabola. He means that a parabola is a very good way to approximate the shape of the motion. The map is not the territory.

ants_everywhere 3y ago
> Mathematics is a description, not a prescription. But are you sure about this? If mathematics were not prescriptive then we should expect to see some evidence of that. So far nobody has demonstrated the existence of phenomena that contradicts the equations of physics. Usually we would call such phenomena "supernatural." It's possible in theory that nature doesn't have to obey mathematical laws. But if there's no evidence for it and if it doesn't explain any phenomena, then what is the argument for holding that particular belief?
- proamdev123 3y ago
  Physics doesn’t obey mathematical laws. Mankind studied physics until we found mathematical formulas that describe nature reliably. There are countless math formulas that were discarded over the millennia after they were discovered to not adequately describe the physical phenomena they were intended to describe. Math is a collection of abstractions. Some are useful in explaining natural phenomena. Some are not.
- the_af 3y ago
  > So far nobody has demonstrated the existence of phenomena that contradicts the equations of physics. Usually we would call such phenomena "supernatural." You cannot contradict a description; it's not a "law" in the legal/prescriptive sense. How would you even "contradict the equations of physics"? The real world exists and it's there; we use models to imperfectly describe (to varying degrees of success) its phenomena. In a sense, the real world contradicts those equations because they do not perfectly describe it; they are just an approximation.
- andrewprock 3y ago
  The most straightforward evidence that mathematics is descriptive and not prescriptive is Einstein's General Relativity which illuminated that Newtonian mechanics was not prescriptive. Similarly General Relativity does not prescribe what happens at quantum scales.
- ramblenode 3y ago
  > So far nobody has demonstrated the existence of phenomena that contradicts the equations of physics. That's kind of a tautology because physics is rules for what we observe. If we observe something contradicting the rules then we come up with new rules to describe the new thing.
VirusNewbie 3y ago
Well, what is matter made of?
- andrewprock 3y ago
  That's a billion dollar question. If you have the right answer, there is a good chance you'd win a Nobel Prize.

ants_everywhere 3y ago

> Mathematics is a description, not a prescription. But are you sure about this? If mathematics were not prescriptive then we should expect to see some evidence of that. So far nobody has demonstrated the existence of phenomena that contradicts the equations of physics. Usually we would call such phenomena "supernatural." It's possible in theory that nature doesn't have to obey mathematical laws. But if there's no evidence for it and if it doesn't explain any phenomena, then what is the argument for holding that particular belief?

proamdev123 3y ago
Physics doesn’t obey mathematical laws. Mankind studied physics until we found mathematical formulas that describe nature reliably. There are countless math formulas that were discarded over the millennia after they were discovered to not adequately describe the physical phenomena they were intended to describe. Math is a collection of abstractions. Some are useful in explaining natural phenomena. Some are not.
the_af 3y ago
> So far nobody has demonstrated the existence of phenomena that contradicts the equations of physics. Usually we would call such phenomena "supernatural." You cannot contradict a description; it's not a "law" in the legal/prescriptive sense. How would you even "contradict the equations of physics"? The real world exists and it's there; we use models to imperfectly describe (to varying degrees of success) its phenomena. In a sense, the real world contradicts those equations because they do not perfectly describe it; they are just an approximation.
andrewprock 3y ago
The most straightforward evidence that mathematics is descriptive and not prescriptive is Einstein's General Relativity which illuminated that Newtonian mechanics was not prescriptive. Similarly General Relativity does not prescribe what happens at quantum scales.
ramblenode 3y ago
> So far nobody has demonstrated the existence of phenomena that contradicts the equations of physics. That's kind of a tautology because physics is rules for what we observe. If we observe something contradicting the rules then we come up with new rules to describe the new thing.

VirusNewbie 3y ago

Well, what is matter made of?

andrewprock 3y ago
That's a billion dollar question. If you have the right answer, there is a good chance you'd win a Nobel Prize.