Is math real? Is physics math describable?

  • Thread starter Borek
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In summary, some mathematicians believe that mathematics is a creation of the mind, while others believe that mathematics is discovered through abstraction.
  • #36
Logic is just a means of non-contradictory i.e. meaningful communication.
 
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  • #37
You all got it wrong about math. It is not a game, etc. Instead, math is based upon a collection of arbitrary, self-consistent statements (postulates, properties, etc.) Math is not true, but consistent. Science is the application of math to the world, and is true to the extent that it agrees (partially) with experiments and observations.
 
  • #38
Borek said:
This made me wonder - is math real? I don't mean real like a hammer - math is competely abstract, there is no doubt about it. However, is math really a game?

Maths is a discipline that has evolved, beginning from the time when somebody needed to start adding, and subtracting. Then later people discovered multiplication, division, and exotic features of working with numbers. And this discipline can be applied in conjunction with other disciplines to make our society more 'advanced'...building elaborate/sophisticated things etc.

If you're going to ask if maths is real, then you're going to have to ask 'are numbers real?'. It's up to you to choose what is real or not real.
 
  • #39
Math is not something of our own devising.

Math exists on a Platonic plane independent of man and God. If there is a God, He used math as the scaffholding to construct the universe.
 

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