Mathematics: Invention or Discovery
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gibbous wrote...
mibuchiha wrote...
@fenex: physics are also product of mental labors, based on math to top things off. invention huh?Yes. Physics as a discipline (i.e. a systematic superset of tools of description) is an invention, the phenomena described by way of axioms are the discoveries.
The discipline of mathematics likewise is a system of abstraction (man-made) that provides (like physics) tools (invented) to describe observed phenomena (discovered).
Mathematics is an invention.
Some may argue calculus is an invention, but the number 1 exists regardless of humanity. As for the rest of them. The square root of two could never be expressed with real numbers, no matter whether mathematicians proved it or not. The area of a circle could never be anything but PI*R^2, regardless of wether or not we drew circles in the sand. Maths is most definitely a discovery - it never needed humanity for its existence or logical consistency.
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Math is humanity trying to describe things in a quantifiable way. Since our perception of reality is something unique to us, math was invented as a system of classification of item sets that is presented in an understandable way to all humans. This is why physical existances such as the ratio Pi (3.141592654) and the natural constant e^1 (2.718281828) looks so weird in number form, even though they're perfectly natural: the system is human made and therefore imperfect.
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I think math was invented rather than discovered. It was to aid us in our inconveniences, much like we do in our daily lives. =]
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orpharion wrote...
gibbous wrote...
mibuchiha wrote...
@fenex: physics are also product of mental labors, based on math to top things off. invention huh?Yes. Physics as a discipline (i.e. a systematic superset of tools of description) is an invention, the phenomena described by way of axioms are the discoveries.
The discipline of mathematics likewise is a system of abstraction (man-made) that provides (like physics) tools (invented) to describe observed phenomena (discovered).
Mathematics is an invention.
Some may argue calculus is an invention, but the number 1 exists regardless of humanity. As for the rest of them. The square root of two could never be expressed with real numbers, no matter whether mathematicians proved it or not. The area of a circle could never be anything but PI*R^2, regardless of wether or not we drew circles in the sand. Maths is most definitely a discovery - it never needed humanity for its existence or logical consistency.
You completely failed to understand anything of what I wrote. I remain unsurprised.
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Well, if we use the ideas of correlation and causation, i believe it was a discovery. other things were connected based on a series of relative facts. i think the invention part of it was how we gave these correlations values: we invented numbers.
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NEXUS
Since 2010
Math is too hard for me, I have not even done anymath classes since grade 4 and now I've graduated.