From: "Dr E D F Williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[nonsense skipped] > ------------------------------------------- > Mr Blakely, > > How can you connect (1) below, with (2)? By what logic? > (1) All mathematics is counting - (2) things exist or they do not. Binary mathematics. > These two statements are not related and neither one supports nor refutes > the other. Despite being unrelated they are meant to form the foundation, > such as it is, for the next gem of wisdom: Base two mathematics is existence or non existence. Probably the most universal form of counting. It doesn't assume that you have 10 digits on your hand. Step back. Stop being so myopic. > You say (3) "Mathematics has therefore always existed." The above two > disconnected statements have nothing to do with the third which is patently > untrue. And then: That mathematics has always existed is classical thought beginning with Plato and later finding much expression in the renaissance and continuing to this day. As one writer put it: "Mathematics is the language of God, in which the book of the universe is written. The better we understand that language, the better we understand the world it describes." Now, I am not appealing to God here, she would probably be angry with me for drawing her into this discussion but the nuggets of philosophy to be gained from classical thought regarding mathematics are: Mathematics may be viewed as a language. This language may be viewed as preexisting the universe. This language is what the universe is written in. Understanding this language leads to understanding the universe. From this point of view, mathematicians are essentially discovers and translators, not primarily inventers. Since this is classical thought and since I had assumed that you were a mathematician (given all your yak, yak), I further assumed that the history of mathematics and the classical philosophies that accompany it were taught to you as they were to me. Clearly, I was wrong. It's clear that you were unable to recognize this. The original concept (look back to the title) for right or wrong is classical thought. My approach to mathematics is therefore entirely appropriate to this discussion. It does not result in anything different in the mathematics of today or tomorrow except for expressing why we often study it for it's own sake. Your view of the universe seems myopic to me. Step back, put on a new pair of glasses and get a wider view of this universe. Add a little humility to your life and recognize that there other valid views besides your own - and some of them are very old.