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/sci/ - Science & Math

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8965802 No.8965802 [Reply] [Original]

>Almost nothing is commutative or associative, so an operation won't have these properties unless there's a special reason for it to. So the question isn't why exponentiation isn't commutative or associative; it's why addition and multiplication are.

what did math mean by this?

>> No.8965825

>>8965802
>le nature of reality

>> No.8965861

>>8965802
Math is a concept, invented by humans, to very poorly represent the world and the events surrounding them.

>> No.8966798

>>8965861
Very poorly?

>> No.8967607

>>8966798
Look at the hoops string theorists had to jump through (Witten got a fields medal for his work on strings).

>> No.8967616

>>8967607
You're confusing math with mathematical physics my dude

>> No.8967622

>>8967616
The point is they had to invent new math to describe the world and events around them. And it's still not done. My dude.

>> No.8967624

>>8967622
Math is not invented, it is discovered.

>> No.8967636

>>8967624
It's an artificial construct made by humans. It's invented. Physics is discovery.

>> No.8967645

>>8967636
There are far too many "coincidences" of mathematical constructions prefiguring natural phenomena for mathematics to be an invention.

>> No.8967662
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8967662

>>8965802
>the question isn't why exponentiation isn't commutative or associative; it's why addition and multiplication are
It's because all alternating groups with the exception of A4 are simple
you fucking brainlet

>> No.8967666

>>8967645
It was invented to describe natural phenomena, so it would have been a much bigger failure if there weren't any "coincidences"

>> No.8967676

>>8967666
Wrong. Math was first used to aid technological development (dwelling construction) and economic activity and that is still its main use. And you missed the point: purely mathematical ideas, ideas which were not "developed" to describe natural phenomena, turn out to be describing natural phenomena down the line after all.

>> No.8967677

Because cardinal arithmetic is based on sets - classes with objects with no structure and thus many isomorphisms (bijections, here).

But those why questions mostly just lead to new ones.