- #1
saminator910
- 96
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is math "real", or created by humans, and other questions about the nature of math.
These questions have disturbed me for the past month. If I define a certain mathematical structure, say a function, is it real? what makes it real, when a class of students ponders a function are they all just imagining this same hypothetical object, or does it exist? Do we humans create math by assigning symbols, or values to objects? Does all of math exist beyond what we humans know, is it all present but undiscovered, or have we been building on axioms to create more math. Have the primes placed in our number system been distributed at the beginning of time, or have we humans created them by defining operations such as division on a number system that we have made up? Can anyone give me any insight on these questions?
These questions have disturbed me for the past month. If I define a certain mathematical structure, say a function, is it real? what makes it real, when a class of students ponders a function are they all just imagining this same hypothetical object, or does it exist? Do we humans create math by assigning symbols, or values to objects? Does all of math exist beyond what we humans know, is it all present but undiscovered, or have we been building on axioms to create more math. Have the primes placed in our number system been distributed at the beginning of time, or have we humans created them by defining operations such as division on a number system that we have made up? Can anyone give me any insight on these questions?