Thread: Mathematical Numbers are Theoretical; Not Proven

Originally Posted by Artelis

Because they attempt to to describe a 'world of truths.' These formulas don't even attempt to make sense.

But I'm actually on your side. Just pointing out holes in your argument.

I don't understand the supposed holes. The real formulas do more than attempt to describe a world of truths. They pull it off successfully.

Originally Posted by Xei

If we called a dog a fish would it be able to breathe underwater?

pi, for example, has the value it does because it is a consequence of the axioms of Euclidian geometry (you can estimate pi with a series of fractions); it is defined by and only has meaning within that set of axioms. Euclidian geometry is almost perfect when dealing with things in human experience, so we can reliably say that the circumference of any physical circle will be pretty much pi times the diameter.

We don't do any of those things you mentioned because we prove that the real results are true (using the rules of our system). I can't imagine you've never proved anything before... all of those except the pi one are completely trivial.

The formulas are what they are because they describe reality accurately, and the phony ones I mentioned are flat out false. The system we have to work in is not our invention; the system is reality. We could not possibly rearrange our system to where pi = this many ***. Of course we can change the language, but we cannot change the realities that are represented by our language.

What do you mean you can't imagine I've never proved anything before? How are the other formulas trivial? Please explain.