On 10 Feb 2013, at 22:01, Craig Weinberg wrote:
On Sunday, February 10, 2013 10:41:23 AM UTC-5, Bruno Marchal wrote:
On 09 Feb 2013, at 15:14, Craig Weinberg wrote:
On Saturday, February 9, 2013 8:15:21 AM UTC-5, Bruno Marchal wrote:
On 08 Feb 2013, at 21:38, meekerdb wrote:
On 2/8/2013 12:31 AM, Kim Jones wrote:
Which is a profound problem that we can lay right at the door of
LANGUAGE. Language is indeed a self-serving thing. A description
of something is a dance of language, not a dance of PERCEPTION.
Perception is often throttled by the processes of language. We
need to move beyond words. This is the importance of math and
music (which is audible math IMO.)
That seems contradictory. Mathematics is very restricted language
- declaratory sentences, logically consistent.
Mathematics is not a language at all. You might be confusing
mathematics and the theories used to put some light on some
mathematical reality.
Then Spanish and French and Italian aren't languages either. People
might confuse them with the linguistic theories used to put some
light on some semiotic reality.
Not at all. Spanish and French and Italian are languages. They
define strings of symbols, having meaning, which can be on some
subject matter, but they are different from the subject matter.
Only non-mathematician confuse the mathematical language (that
exists too) and the mathematic subject matter (number, geometrical
shapes, algebras, mathematical structures, etc.).
That just makes a straw man of non-mathematical language. The
romance language subject matter (description, instruction, nouns,
articles, adjectives, literary structures, etc) are also not limited
to their immediate syntax. I never said that math referred only to
it's own expression, but neither does any language.
Good, that's my point. Math is not language, it is the object of study
of mathematicians, which of course will use some languages to talk
about their subject matter.
Bruno
Also most mathematicians don't care so much about logical
consistency. That notion is studied by logicians, but with few
incidence on the doing of mathematicians. Logic is just another
branch of math, with its own purpose. It can have application in
math, or not.
What branches of math contain no logic?
What branches of anything does not contain logic?
Color, flavor, pain, pleasure, love, imagination, feeling,
intuition, etc.
That are no branches. And those notions can involve this or that
logics, depending on the theories we assume.
Everyday life is full of logic.
But it isn't necessarily full of math (as tribes like the Pirahã
reveal).
The tribes of pirahã have no problem with math. They use the math
they need, as everyone else.
Bruno
http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~marchal/
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Everything List" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
