Math isn’t really made up. It’s an innate property of the universe at minimum being interpreted by humans as numbers and equations.
It can also literally be what the universe is made of.
Comment on fishing for math
MossyFeathers@pawb.social 8 months agoMath is literally made up. There is no physical basis for math. Math is just another language used to describe things. The universe doesn’t care whether there’s “2 particles” or “1 particle and another particle” or “1 particle + 1 particle”. It doesn’t make these distinctions. Math only exists as long as there is an intelligent species which uses it. If there are no intelligent brains capable of using math and with a knowledge that it exists, math stops existing.
blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 8 months ago
MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 8 months ago
You medan logic. Math is describing this in formulas.
anzich@feddit.de 8 months ago
Technically true but most math is motivated by nature
MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 8 months ago
And it has an awkward syntax.
girl@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Except there is math in nature, such as fractals and the Fibonacci sequence. Sure nature doesn’t have any awareness of doing math, but it is there. Not all math is made up just for our understanding.
MossyFeathers@pawb.social 8 months ago
That’s kinda the point though. Math is a language inspired by reality. It describes relationships between things in an abstract format. Physical sciences like physics or chemistry build off it by adding rules and units to more accurately describe or predict real-world relationships, but at the end of the day, it’s all made up. Nature isn’t doing math to create a fractal any more than you’re doing math when you move your fingers or toes. Math doesn’t create a fractal, it describes it. You can then use that description to create a fractal, but the fractal isn’t math.
frunch@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This conversation reminds me of the first couple times i surfed Reddit over a decade ago. It was so cool to be in a place where intelligent and interesting discussion was happening… Wish i could contribute something useful to it, but i just want to thank you all for carrying that kind of energy into the '20s 🥂