I don't understand this argument. There are a good many abstracts - for instance the way our brains process our senses - that are not 'real' in a meaningful sense. Colour is simply a mental reaction of certain wavelengths of light - it is an abstract, and none of us can be sure we mean the same thing by, say, 'red', but this does not matter. Being able to differentiate between certain wavelength of the energy spectrum is survival positive. That is is not in any way 'real' is irrelevant.
It is useful. It works.
It may be that mathematics will be found to be only a partial descriptive and predictive method, rather like Newtonian physics, and quantum, I suspect, will almost certainly be only a partial explanation, but all these things work. I don't see that whether number is 'real' in any sense apart from the mental affects this. Abstracts are useful.
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dancing_serpent
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-05 08:51 pm (UTC)It is useful. It works.
It may be that mathematics will be found to be only a partial descriptive and predictive method, rather like Newtonian physics, and quantum, I suspect, will almost certainly be only a partial explanation, but all these things work. I don't see that whether number is 'real' in any sense apart from the mental affects this. Abstracts are useful.