I think Crazy Diamond was illustrating the point that “2+2=4” doesn’t say anything about the universe itself but is a useful language game tool in certain arenas — Noah Te Stroete
So, what about the real universe? Does this mathematical game, in which (1+1) + (1+1) = (1+1+1+1), accurately describe the cosmos that we live in? — Crazy Diamond
2+2=5
Subtract 4 from each side give:
0=1
That implies false=true. — Devans99
I think math is a tool to describe reality just as physics is. Math isn’t inherent in reality. It’s inherent to our minds in describing reality. — Noah Te Stroete
all known laws of science are mathematical. — TheMadFool
I think math is a tool to describe reality just as physics is. — Noah Te Stroete
Now if math isn't something inherent in reality we should be seeing some exceptions which I presume we haven't.
It's like someone who sees a theme in a storyline and discovers that all other stories have the same theme. Is it coincidence? Is it God?
What do you think? — TheMadFool
Didn't we get our math in the first place by abstracting from or generalizing about physical reality? We started making marks to stand for physical things. Obviously, the particular marks and sounds we make are simply a matter of convention. One could imagine, for example, that an alien civilization has a different way of representing these universal truths. But would you suppose that aliens could have a mathematics or logic that is simply irreconcilable with ours? — petrichor
It's just that that's the language we're using to describe phenomena.
If we used a "natural language" instead, we could say, "All known laws of science are in English."
It's just like the world being in "black & white" with black and white film, or the world being only shades of red/pink/white if we only have red and white paint. — Terrapin Station
With relativity, it requires a conscious observer with a particular location. Aliens are conscious as well. Without observers, would “location” even make any sense? — Noah Te Stroete
This means that, for velocities, 2 + 2 does not = 4, instead 2 + 2 = .
This has been investigated and found to be true. — Crazy Diamond
As for physics, aren't conservation laws just the same sort of thing? This much stuff is always this much stuff. It can't be not equal to itself. No matter what you do, you can't make it not equal to itself. — petrichor
Suppose I am standing on a train platform and the train is travelling at 20km/h from my reference frame. If it goes 10km/h faster (from my reference frame), then it will be travelling at 20km/h + 10km/h = 30km/h from my reference frame. Standard addition. — Andrew M
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