Is the universe made of math or is math purely from the human mind?

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6 Answers

Walt O'Reagun Profile
Walt O'Reagun answered

Well ... If you subscribe to the theory that our reality is merely a computer simulation, then our universe is really made up of 1 and 0 ... Unless they're using a quantum computer.

Darik Majoren Profile
Darik Majoren answered

Math is how we labeled what was observed to be repeatable about a certain thing. I am sure it most likely start with the quantity of items both obtained by gathering and more importantly for trade . . .

1 Potatoe, 2 potatoes, 3 potatoes . . .

That is after man cultivated the potato . . .

Tom  Jackson Profile
Tom Jackson answered

Worth a quick read:

pages.uoregon.edu/moursund/Math/mathematics.htm

Virginia Lou Profile
Virginia Lou answered

Dear Pea Nuts,

I will step out and say no the universe is not made of math, but now because of your interesting question I do want to read Max Tegmark's book Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality (2014).

Math is not purely from the human mind either, but is one fascinating, indispensable tool for us to apprehend beauty and a certain level of scientific understanding. 

As in Happy's cartoon, there is a religious aspect also; mathematician Johannes Kepler, a key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, is said to have been "motivated by the religious conviction and belief that God had created the world according to an intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason."

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Virginia Lou
Virginia Lou commented
Hi Pea Nuts, wanted to add in a quote from the famous British physicist and mathematician, Sir James Jeans (1877-1946):

"...from the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician."

This was in his famous book THE MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE.
Perry Nuttal
Perry Nuttal commented
Was Sir James Jeans a freemason?
Virginia Lou
Virginia Lou commented
Hi Pea Nuts, I did some poking around on the Internet and Wikipedia says he was...but we know how reliable THAT is (not), so I really don't know because there seems to be lots about Freemasonry as a cult....which is new to me, my uncle was a Mason.
Also found a list of POTUS supposed to be Freemasons...

George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton
Tris Fray Potter Profile

I believe that mathematics is a way for humans to comprehend our world.  It works well, and has not yet failed us (except when you're given a hard question for maths homework and you're sitting there for the next two hours trying to figure it out...).  As for an answer to your question, I really don't know. The simple, yet complex structure of maths is what makes it so beautiful and although it may be a figment of our imaginations, it has been just about the basis of civilisation, and many tribal groups, for thousands of years.

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