It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Why study Mathematics?
The main reason for studying mathematics to an advanced level is that it is interesting and enjoyable. People like its challenge, its clarity, and the fact that you know when you are right. The solution of a problem has an excitement and a satisfaction. You will find all these aspects in a university degree course.
You should also be aware of the wide importance of Mathematics, and the way in which it is advancing at a spectacular rate. Mathematics is about pattern and structure; it is about logical analysis, deduction, calculation within these patterns and structures. When patterns are found, often in widely different areas of science and technology, the mathematics of these patterns can be used to explain and control natural happenings and situations. Mathematics has a pervasive influence on our everyday lives, and contributes to the wealth of the country.
Originally posted by iwishicould
reply to post by theresult
result, you say that math is "pointless as a tool" but yet you base all of your theories around math (however hairbrained they may be). It is beyond frustration to know that you are 27, and your native language is English (which you told me yourself). Yet you still write how you do, it is completely unreadable. I beg of you, quit the games, if you admit to being a young kid, noones going to fault you. We are most likely going to respect you more for being honest about who you really are, and how you can in no way, write in a manner that is remotely acceptable. I understand that English people talk different than Americans do (I am an american). But the problem is, is that I have had contact for the last 4 or 5 years with Austrailians, and Brazillians. The Aussies know english, the Brazillians are horrible at speaking it (the ones I know) but I can still understand exactly what they are saying. Can you just please come clean, on every board you post, people are being confused by the way you speak, appeal to the greater good, tell us the truth.
Originally posted by theresult
Is it? or aint it.. and if its not why cant humans use maths to work out HOW WE GOT HERE..
Thank you
Originally posted by theresult
Can anyone prove to me maths is not just a tool? or a level of understanding.
And if so please provide proof..
maths is pointless as tool to ask questions..
Thank you
Originally posted by logician magician
Originally posted by theresult
Can anyone prove to me maths is not just a tool? or a level of understanding.
And if so please provide proof..
maths is pointless as tool to ask questions..
Thank you
Without simple arithmetic, you wouldn't be able to debate/share your question/conclusion with thousands of other people.
I take it you have no education in physics, because math is used to answer many questions that relate to what we observe and many times can not yet observe. For instance, it was math that told us that anti-particles, neutrinos, black holes, and other structures existed before they were observed.
The questions you seem to be asking are metaphysical in nature so do no necessarily apply to the realm of science or mathematics.
You don't seem to have any mathematical knowledge beyond simple algebra, my friend. It's premature to judge the usefulness or nature of mathematics until you can understand it.
You're simply judging the book by it's cover.
Originally posted by bsbray11
Yes, our mathematics is just a tool, and has limitations.
Transcendental numbers still can't be predicted indefinitely by any known algorithms, despite people trying for decades if not centuries. That includes pi.
Even calculus must be either formally incomplete, or inconsistent. This was proven by a famous German mathematician named Godel in the early 1900's.
Calculus, or any formal system that allows recursion, can be forced to assert a statement that defies conventional logic and appears to contradict itself. The theorem basically states "this theorem is not a theorem," unraveling calculus completely simply by playing with self-reference. This is like the "seam" that couldn't be made invisible.
Maths are extremely useful tools, but yes, they are fallible and are simply tools. Not an end-all to explaining the entire universe or anything like that.
Materialists cling hard to maths and like to think of them as always rigorous, consistent, and objective (when used correctly), when we really don't know those things are true, and in fact can contradict them.
Your sense of "I," your ego, is also a self-defining, self-referencing and self-comparing program that constantly runs in your head, according to AI researcher and Pulitzer prize-wining author Douglas Hofstadter. If any of you saw that recent news thread where researchers showed that the "spiritual" part of the brain is also the part that is self-defining and associated with your ego, it should give you pause. When the part of the brain that defines "you" is quieted, you tend to become more spiritual. For thousands of years spiritual philosophies have been emphasizing the same thing, emphasizing relenting your desires and selfish habits.
one thing stuck out my ego... mm now what is my ego?
You see for me my ego is just one number in some snipedup calculation...
why can i say that? becouse we use mathmatics.. I mean its everything right?? lol no its not..
What im pointing out here is that the very question you and i ask is flawed .. not becouse the question is wrong but the tools we use to ask it are!
Think of it this way.. you was ment to ask a stupid question.. to get the real answer.. aka Q physics..
understnad it not question it... for questions loop understanding is a road you follow...
hope that helps