Do you think everything can be described mathematically?
My initial reaction was no, but on reflection I became less convinced. It would appear to depend upon how rigorously one requires that variables and their range of values be defined. If you have an example of something that you think cannot be described mathematically, I'll take a stab at it.Do you think everything can be described mathematically?
A great many things, but not everything. (You still must feed your loved ones [or they'll get cranky...])Do you think everything can be described mathematically?
Yes.Do you think everything can be described mathematically?
Fun question. Sure I could try to write equations for a lot of stuff where we just don't need equations.Do you think everything can be described mathematically?
My initial reaction was no, but on reflection I became less convinced. It would appear to depend upon how rigorously one requires that variables and their range of values be defined. If you have an example of something that you think cannot be described mathematically, I'll take a stab at it.
A great many things, but not everything. (You still must feed your loved ones [or they'll get cranky...])
Before even considering love, there are lesser subjective preferences, too, like music, art, flavors, etc.Love is an interesting example. Physicalists, and their position on things like the mind/body problem, would say love actually can be described mathematically - in terms of brain chemistry, and then into the mathematical description of those chemicals and how they react.
I think they can be comprehended mathematically, but only if one has the the requisite mathematical competence. We see counter examples of this all the time, even on this forum, with individuals challenging relativity, or the concept of flat space. Why? Because their understanding is founded on the popular and oversimplified verbal explanations of what can only be properly presented in mathematical form.That raises the next question. If love were described that way, would we comprehend it? So while it seems likely all things could be described mathematically, can all things be comprehended in their mathematical form?
Even if true, the great variation of subjective preferences (that may or may not agree) means that another factor is at play.I would argue that music, at least great music, is pure mathematics, or mathematics in its purest form.
Do you think everything can be described mathematically?
Said appreciation (or lack thereof) qualifies as part of the "everything" in the OP's question.But now you are talking about how music is appreciated,...
I was not trying to demolish your argument; I was suggesting that we should exclude music (sensuo stricto) from it. I was also celebrating the value of (great) music and its inspiring combination of the "materialism" of mathematics, with the spiritual experience of its positive effect on the human mind.Said appreciation (or lack thereof) qualifies as part of the "everything" in the OP's question.
Before even considering love, there are lesser subjective preferences, too, like music, art, flavors, etc.
I think they can be comprehended mathematically, but only if one has the the requisite mathematical competence.