41–50 of 106 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I for one never saw a "number 2" in the wild. But I'm a homebody.
If I handed you 1 apple, and then handed you another apple, you wouldn't be surprised to find that you had 2 apples. The same trick works with oranges and pears.
At this point I hold one object that we agree to label "apple". Note that even seeing it as a single object is a layer of abstraction. In reality it's a clump of fundamental particles temporarily banding together
> and then handed you another apple,
What's "another apple"? What does it have in common with the thing I'm already holding? We label this thing to be also an apple, but it's a totally different set of atoms, from a different tree, perhaps from the other side of the planet. Perhaps the atoms formed in stellar processes light years away from that of the other apple.
Calling both of these things "apple" is a required first step to having two of them, but that is an of abstraction, a mental trick we use to simplify the world so we can represent it in our minds.
I'm not a particle physicist but I hear electrons *can* be counted without any unwitting help from our lower-level neural circuitry.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I handed you 1 apple, and then handed you another apple, you wouldn't be surprised to find that you had 2 apples. The same trick works with oranges and pears.
> If I handed you 1 apple, At this point I hold one object that we agree to label "apple". Note that even seeing it as a single object is a layer of abstraction. In reality it's a clump of fundamental particles temporarily banding together > and then handed you another apple, What's "another apple"? What does it have in common with the thing I'm already holding? We label this thing to be also an apple, but it's a tot…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t think this understanding will be related to the structure of reality but instead the structure of discrete math. Math is not an observed property of reality it’s a system of describing quantities and relations between them, often with plenty of practical application. Math is applied philosophy and physics is applied math.
Discrete math is the single most "observed property of reality", and nothing else comes even close.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I for one never saw a "number 2" in the wild. But I'm a homebody.
If I handed you 1 apple, and then handed you another apple, you wouldn't be surprised to find that you had 2 apples. The same trick works with oranges and pears.
You are differentiating, classifying, etc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Discrete math is the single most "observed property of reality", and nothing else comes even close.
The very notion of discreteness depends on subjective definitions of "objects". We take concepts of objects for granted because they make interacting with the world tractable, but it's really hard to define them outside of minds.
I'd have thought that was obvious.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The very notion of discreteness depends on subjective definitions of "objects". We take concepts of objects for granted because they make interacting with the world tractable, but it's really hard to define them outside of minds.
As far as we know, the universe is made up of discrete units and any other type of math is an abstraction over discrete math.