Hi Platt, On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 9:54 AM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 9 Feb 2010 at 9:16, Steven Peterson wrote: > > Hammers and screw drivers are useful tools. Note that we never ask about > > them, does this hammer correctly correspond to The-Way-Things-Really-Are? > By > > the same token, it is not required that we ask such questions about the > tool > > called mathematics. > > Platt: > The reason we don't question is because such tools are obviously > attuned to the world as it really is. By the same token, we don't question > whether swallowing cyanide is injurious to one's health. > Steve: Are you suggesting that mathematics is not obviously attuned to the world? I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by the phrase "attuned to the world." In your swallowing cyanide example, are you saying that cyanide is attuned to the world as it really is or rather that it is part of the world? Are not hammers and mathematics part of the world? You seem to be presupposing that the purpose of a hammer is to help us cope with the world and is attuned to that purpose. I am proposing that mathematics be thought of in the same way rather than as a representation of reality. Best, Steve “To the extent math refers to reality, we are not certain; to the extent we are certain, math does not refer to reality.”<http://www.quotesdaddy.com/quote/1184923/albert-einstein/to-the-extent-math-refers-to-reality-we-are-not-certain> Albert Einstein <http://www.quotesdaddy.com/author/Albert+Einstein> Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
