A universe without mathematics is beyond the scope of our imagination

[Admin]

The Babylonians may have first started applying mathematics to scientific study nearly 3,000 years ago to discover the pattern underlying eclipses, nearly 3,000 years ago.

A universe without mathematics is beyond the scope of our imagination : Read more

 

[Pogo]

No, I can’t imagine a universe without mathematics. Imagine that we cannot determine that we have ten toes. No, any universe, even one with different rules, would still have mathematics, we would just learn that math, and maybe a different base numbering system. People built like horses would count in base 2 or 4.

 

[Catastrophe]

Mathematics, surely, is a product of intelligent life, as you suggest by linking it to a number of toes. Any geo- or should it be astro-graphical location without mathematics could 'import' it by 'inviting' intelligent life

Cat

P.S. Any different base should still have a zero, unless the Romans escaped our planet, so division by zero would still be prohibited in their cosmology.

 

[Starcrow]

It's simpler than saying grandly that the Universe is unimaginable without the numbers. We had to count things, like fruits, goats, days or arrows, or measure them, so we had to invent arithmetic, which is why arithmetic is the oldest science, not astronomy, as some people keep saying.

 

[rod]

"The universe "is written in the language of mathematics," according to Galileo."

None of the article or comments indicate how the universe evolved so it could be described by mathematics. Galileo's answer to the how question would be very different than the answer provided by say, the multiverse or for example, how the Big Bang accomplished this.

 

[Pogo]

So, maybe we live in a purely mathematical universe with a graphical user interface.

 

[rod]

So, maybe we live in a purely mathematical universe with a graphical user interface.

Pogo, how did *a purely mathematical universe* evolve and where did *a GUI* come from? Galileo answers would be very different than modern science today I think.

 

[Catastrophe]

"So, maybe we live in a purely mathematical universe with a graphical user interface."

But, then, at t = 0, the GUI breaks down and cannot be translated into any sort of scientific correspondence.

Cat

 

[rod]

"So, maybe we live in a purely mathematical universe with a graphical user interface."

But, then, at t = 0, the GUI breaks down and cannot be translated into any sort of scientific correspondence.

Cat

Cat, at t=0, how did mathematics arise so we have constants in physics that can be used to describe how nature works?

 

[Catastrophe]

How can you ask "how did mathematics arise" if we live in a "purely mathematical universe"?

I was being "Devil's Advocate".

Cat

 

[Pogo]

The GUI was written along with the mathematical rules at t=0, therefore undefinable at this point.