(March 24, 2015 at 3:44 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: (Bolded by me) First...I don't know. Now for the fun part-what I think:(Bold mine)
It's seems to me that for numbers to have any meaning at all, the numbers must represent something. And if there were no thing that was distinct from another thing, then there would be no number that could be distinguishable from any other number. If any alternate reality existed, it would be distinct from the one we live in now, wouldn't it? So could any reality be said to exist in which no thing is distinct from any other thing? For the value of numbers to even vary, it seems to require a reality that supports the assumption that things are distinct from other things, and within that reality, each thing that may exist has the properties it has and not the properties of that which it is not. Otherwise, how could math have any utility as a descriptive tool? My head is starting to hurt...
It seems to me like numbers represent themselves. Or when you say they must represent some thing, is that what you mean---that 2 represents the value of... 2? And doesn't this abstract object, which we call "2," exist eternally and unchanged regardless if there were only a "single" entity that comprises reality?
Hopefully my question doesn't sound silly and misguided... indeed my brain hurts too... What are abstractions that seem intrinsic properties to the physical world whether or not conscious minds are present to conceptualize their value?
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza