Re: Another Inconvenient Truth



In article <65e62$46caa076$82a1e228$25569@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Han de Bruijn <Han.deBruijn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

T.H. Ray wrote:

If a mathematical model is not the "real thing,"
then what do you propose replace mathematics to
allow you to arrive at the "real thing," i.e., the
true measure? We are talking about mathematics and
measure here, are we not?

The best we can do is to _approximate_ reality. Mathematical models are
only an approximation. (Measurements give only approximate knowledge as
well, admittedly.) As soon as we have an "exact" mathematical model, it
should be "re-normalized", in order to acknowledge the fact that we can
never know all of the details:

No amount of "renormalizing" can ever make the mathematical model and
the physical reality being modeled identical.

One is much better off not assuming such impossibilities.
.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Splitting the genres
    ... "mathematics is the construction of lists of strings, ... and cannot really be a model of physical reality in the way we want. ... Of course a mathematical model can be a model of reality. ... just a set of strings by which we describe it. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • johnreed take 1A - October 18, 2006
    ... The Universe and the Mathematics: ... mathematical model, both our questions, and the answer to our questions ... law, to act at a distance, by setting his first law object on an ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • johnreed take 1A - Modified October 18, 2006
    ... The Universe and the Mathematics: ... mathematical model, both our questions, and the answer to our questions ... law, to act at a distance, by setting his first law object on an ...
    (sci.logic)
  • The Least Action Consistent Stable Universe and the Mathematics, Section 1
    ... The Least Action Consistent Stable Universe and the Mathematics ... He suggests that once we select a mathematical model, ...
    (sci.physics)
  • johnreed take 1A --- modified October 13, 2006
    ... The Universe and the Mathematics: ... mathematical model, both our questions, and the answer to our questions ... law, to act at a distance, by setting his first law object on an ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)

Quantcast