RE: Was pi invented or discovered?
March 6, 2013 at 11:03 pm
(This post was last modified: March 7, 2013 at 12:22 am by FallentoReason.)
(March 6, 2013 at 7:31 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(March 6, 2013 at 7:14 pm)FallentoReason Wrote: It all depends on whether the concepts of mathematics are independent of a conscious mind (i.e. they have always existed) or if mathematics can only exist whithin a conscious mind, like morality.
Easy now, this is the maths subforum. Philosophy is down the hall.
Haha, but to efficiently answer the question we need to delve into philosophy! If maths is just a human construct (which I think it is, because e.g. geometry has heaps of concepts that can't be observed in nature e.g. parallel lines) then it can't be discovered as it wasn't "out there" to be discovered. Therefore it was invented.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle