But numbers, and other ‘objects of reason’, are real in a different way to sense objects. And that is a stumbling block for a culture in which things are said to either exist or not. There is no conceptual space for different modes of reality (leaving aside dry, academic modal metaphysics). Which is why we can only think of them as kinds of objects, which they’re actually not. They’re really closer to kinds of acts. — Wayfarer

Well said. Starting with the natural numbers, which are ways to distinguish objects and converse about quantities, mathematics has grown to virtually unimaginable proportions over the millennia. And it has changed character from a descriptive and predictive tool to an enormous game, unbounded in some aspects, with recently formulated foundational rules.

Some compare it to chess, where material pieces are moved around a board rather than the pen or pencil upon paper, or keys and screen of a computer. Where it might differ is in potential: mathematics awaiting discovery or creation versus possible strategies or moves on the chessboard. Chess players might comment on this.

Is a crossword puzzle real? Pondering how to fill in the spaces, then doing so with pencil. Sounds a little like math. Are emerging ideas real? Of course they are. Do mathematical objects exist in some exotic realm, awaiting discovery? I think of them as commonalities of minds, the way in which human brains have evolved.

Do infinitesimals exist (in the platonistic sense)? — Michael

I've always thought of these little critters as part of the metaphysics of mathematics. They now belong to a variation of the game called nonstandard analysis.

↪jgill
Plato suggested momentary collapse — magritte

Would you elaborate, please?

Action at a distance might be momentary separations of time from spacetime. If space only exists all things are connected instantly.

Now this is posited as an alternative to the Labour idea of giving each household a sum in order to offset the cost of electricity. — Banno

When the government gives money directly to citizens for a particular purpose that money may seem like an invitation to celebrate in various ways rather than use for its intended purpose. That happened here under covid, although there was no pretense it be used for children's health, etc. The temptation to celebrate might not be as strong if gas prices are reduced a bit. Just a thought.

1) Both came to power rather by accident; — Linkey

Yeltsin groomed Putin for his political ascension. Then resigned. No accident.

I find it interesting that the PSR and P of Causality seem to overlap regarding mathematical causality chains. Clearly sufficient reason and sufficient cause are there, whereas reason is more logic and cause is more physical. Just thought I'd go back to the OP.

Under certain conditions, time separates from spacetime. Or not.

Potential is the intersection of space and time. Or perhaps a synonym of an instant in time. Just rambling.

Were the phenomena nefarious it would not have the blinking colored lights similar to aircraft.
Unless they are meant to be seen and the magnitude of observations and commentary studied for national security.

Or, mostly private airplanes or helicopters.

If something doesn't exist, it is not possible to write about it. If something is being written about, then it must exist somewhere. — RussellA

You mean all the science fiction books are real stories? Or merely exist in the authors' minds.

So, chairs exists and numbers subsist? Is that a common understanding? — Art48

As an ex prof I never thought about it, and I don't recall hearing the expression, but I suppose it could be appropriate.

"In a Noetherian ring, suppose that maximal ideals do not exist. — Pierre-Normand

I asked ChatGPT a question about an obscure mathematical topic, specifically how I might proceed to explore a particular aspect. It gave me an accurate answer as well as a simple perspective I had overlooked. Quite impressive.

I am very knowledgeable about the history of a certain activity. By asking about a specific incident several different but equivalent ways I got several different answers, two of which were correct. I suppose there is a rule of thumb about giving the AI as much info as is reasonable to get the most accurate reply.

I've mentioned this before, but it has relevance here. There was a PhD mathematics student who investigated a class of functions for his original research project. After some time he had discovered several fascinating facts about these mathematical entities, enough for his dissertation. But he was then asked for an example of such functions. It turned out the set of functions was the empty set. I have no idea if he eventually got his degree.

Were mathematics more a kind of philosophy, he might have received his degree even if he proved much about nothing.

Could you give some real life examples of such existences in the real world? — Corvus

Please do. Would some aspects of thought or ideas fall into this category? Spacetime?

:up: Sometimes a little poetry succeeds where pages of prose do not.

↪jgill
Yeah probably. Out of curiosity, would you have a better description of mathematics? — A Christian Philosophy

As a former prof I never gave much thought to a definition. But this is OK.

A conversation is between two entities. I don't see how you separate from Chat with what you have presented. But when I clicked on the link I saw how the conversation developed.

mathematics (which is logic applied to numbers). — A Christian Philosophy

Overly simplistic IMO. Although mathematical proofs are applications of logic.

I tried posting in the general philosophy section an interesting conversation I had with chatGPT about nothingness — Daniel

Is that entire commentary the product of ChatGPT or some sort of blending of what the AI said and what you propose?

Perhaps nothingness is not the “natural” state we imagine; instead, it might be the ultimate state of chaos, paradoxically requiring that something arise within it to achieve even the smallest hint of order or stability. — Daniel

Poetic, but a tad nonsensical.

I was once an observer in a room in which my friend having an intense and sustained conversation with an other who to my eyes and ears was not there — unenlightened

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...

H. Mearns Antigonish

(couldn't resist) :cool:

Certainly. And as history shows it, we have no idea of them at the present. Only the future will define who is seen as a great person of the start of the 21st Century. — ssu

:up:

As a side note, my lucid dreaming self has limited consciousness compared to my waking self. — GrahamJ

Interesting. My experiences back in the 1970s were that my lucid dream self was more aware than my normal self. I felt myself pure will. The first instance was so powerful my first thought in that state was, "There is something else!"

I retired as a math prof 24 years ago, so practices may have changed. No one in the department used the internet as a substitute for a required text, although those texts cost a great deal. Of course, the WWW was fledgling.

I once experimented using Schaum's Outline in my complex variables course, partly to reduce the cost of the course text from $80 to $18, but also to provide an easy source of facts to accompany my lectures. Mixed results. When students missed class they had to consult with a fellow classmate to get notes or visit my office. Others appreciated the easy access to basic facts and examples.

For a professional these days research depends greatly on one's ability to access preprints in one's area. Books are still useful for grad coursework, but beyond that it's keeping in contact with peers and using the internet to try to stay abreast in one's discipline.

Having said that, in my old age I frequently go to my library and pick out a text published 60 years ago to refresh my dwindling memories.

Constructivism (and my position in the OP) does not deny that objects exist independent of perception. The key point is that our knowledge of such objects is mediated by subjective processes—experience and prior knowledge shape how those objects appear to us. This does not negate their independent existence but highlights the active role of the subject in any knowledge of them. — Wayfarer

I agree. My adventures with the Art of Dreaming were across the spectrum from elemental lucidity to a strong reality, an awareness, more pronounced and sharp than anything I have ever witnessed in normal everyday experience. Here is where degrees of reality has a possible measure. I's unfortunate that achieving these states is so happenstance. For me it was like a second nature.

One of Stephen King's novels has a brilliant description of the central character awakening in a field and smelling growing onions and freshly overturned earth a mile away.

Math and philosophy overlap. I asked the AI a question about a math topic that is somewhat unique, the question being how would it suggest I move ahead. The reply was sophisticated and correct and it was something I had given little thought to. This may be an instance of original thinking arising out of Copilot.

Although it is possible a mathematician somewhere on the internet has suggested this, I doubt it since it pertains to a topic of which I am one of the few professionals having an interest. Perhaps the only authority.

I am keeping an open mind. Fascinating.

At that moment, I had a sudden and inexplicable realisation of the foundational nature of the 'I'. Not myself, as a particular individual, but THE self, the 'I AM' for whom the world exists, without which there is no existence. It suddenly became clear to me that this 'I am' is foundational to reality. — Wayfarer

The AofD experiences I had 40 or so years ago were astounding in several ways, the most pronounced being a wakening into a world more vivid and "real" than normal. As I mentioned I felt I was pure will, but the colors and definitions seemed stronger also. One experience was awakening in a bright desert staring at a large extremely colorful cactus. I moved around it and saw into it from several positions, astounded at the sharpness of definition and brilliancy.

A couple of years ago I suddenly awoke into a world where I was a different person, living in an Irish cottage, looking out a window at a countryside. For a brief few moments I had the sensations, memories and feelings of someone else. Another ineffable encounter with an alternate reality. It was quickly over.

I can't explain why these things happened to me so easily. I was a mathematician and an experienced rock climber - which are not so disjoint as you might suspect.

The "I AM" is the pure will behind the shadows of ourselves.

Thank you for your accounts of personal experiences. I will comment on each over the next day or so.

You are the closest to my mystical adventures. After reading the Art of D, which was brought to my attention by a young fellow rock climber who enjoyed a drug or two, I made the attempt to see my hands, as you did, but instantly I was shifted to an alternate reality - or so it seemed. Stunned, I lay there for a minute or so then got out of bed and walked across the bedroom floor to a closed door, feeling the carpet under my feet and stroking a chest of drawers on the way. I had heard of people walking through closed doors so I gave it a try and it was like going through a thin layer of fog. On the other side a stairwell led down to the living room, and as I started down I was pulled back to normal reality. Later I learned that moving down in that state can result in losing it.

Other adventures followed, and in each I was fully conscious but enabled to violate the laws of physics. How would I describe it in a few words? I was pure will.

already on to a different girl man; the teacher is old news. This other one does in fact like the beach she said, so it might work out super chill. Who knows though — Zolenskify

:up:

What would you like to write/read about? — Amity

Personal experiences relating to philosophical/mystical subjects. Not ramblings about dead philosophers. (My apologies to TPF members) :gasp:

I practiced meditative exercises 60 years ago, thanks to Alan Watts and others and the "Zen Boom", along with existentialism. Then later followed Castaneda's Art of Dreaming instructions with amazing results altering my understandings of reality.

If it is about personal experience, what form of philosophical writing do you think would be best? — Amity

Personal narratives and philosophical speculations thereof. Don't write about Zen unless you are or have been a practitioner, e.g.

(In general, don't write about technical subjects, like QM, unless you have some expertise.)

Spirituality: Secular or Religious? — Amity

Well written details of personal experiences rather than philosophical ramblings should have priority.

Back to the OP momentarily, I think a spectrum of reality is a better approach then degrees of reality, the latter implying a sort of ranking.

Eastern mystical practices, like Zen, revolve about experiences of enlightenment rather than philosophical discussions. Although enlightenment may be ineffable, it would help if more responses on the site were about personal experiences than speculations and searching out what the Greek ancients had to say. I realize this goes against the grain of this site, and that also there may be very few instances of personal revelations, but the discussion is getting nowhere with regard to its title. However, if this is OK with the few participants, and digressions are acceptable, I stand down and watch. Just my opinion.

A professor is not a teacher? I assume you mean pre-college instructor. — jgill

Who said anything about a "pre-college instructor"?
Please, clear the air for me if I offended you. — Zolenskify

. . . is it moral to get with a teacher versus an actual professor? — Zolenskify

No offense. Sorry if I mistook a serious OP for a bit of humor.

and the question always to ask 4) What could possibly go wrong. — T Clark

:chin:

A triangle with interior angles of 180/0/0 would be a degenerate triangle. It allows you to say that any three points in a plane determine a triangle instead of saying that any three non-colinear points do. Mathematicians are generally pleased when they don't have to make special rules to cover edge cases. — Srap Tasmaner

Hmmm . . . so the common triangle is a non-degenerate triangle. I doubt I ever used the expression, "degenerate". But I see it's popular on Wikipedia.

However, I've always liked the expression "indifferent fixed point". Rather than "neutral fixed point".

Who would have thought the ridiculous expression A -> -A would go for one K posts?

In that case, my difficulty with the OP is that we are trying to get degrees out of the substance/mode binary. Maybe that can be done, but at face value it is implausible. Unless there are only two degrees — Leontiskos

True enough. But I wonder if some of the oddities coming out of quantum theory might lie in that nebulous zone between the two extremes. My thoughts range from virtual incredulity at action at a distance to speculating that somehow mathematics materializes in a strange way.

Which brings up a question. How is logic related to definitions of reality?

is it moral to get with a teacher versus an actual professor? — Zolenskify

A professor is not a teacher? I assume you mean pre-college instructor.

Sorry, but this thread is a joke. Have a chuckle and move on.

I recommend a length requirement, say one page. And how do you deal with AI? Perhaps open it up to AI with each participant asking for a short essay on a particular uniform subject, but in different ways. For example, one asks for an essay "on the nature of being" and another asking "what is being". That way the contest reduces to the cleverness of the request. Just a thought. :smile:

I do really like the idea of trying to come up with a continuous graduation reality concept, which isn't an accuracy of a representation, or a way of counting things that already apply, or a way of saying how individuated an entity is. But I don't think it's possible, honestly. — fdrake

We need a metric space whose points are things that are real. Then a distance function for pairs of points. But first, one needs to decide what "real" means. I suggest anything our consciousness registers, from the moon to flights of fancy. But where the purely physical runs up against the purely mental could be a problem worth a thousand pages of philosophical ramblings.

they're just zooted. — fdrake

Thanks. Another new word for me.