Re: Epistemology 201: The Science of Science
From: Albert (albertwagner_at_cox.net)
Date: 01/29/05
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Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:22:11 -0600
Milan wrote:
<snip>
> It is interesting in this context to consider the words of the mathematician
> and physicist, Eugene Wigner: "The enormous usefulness of mathematics in the
> natural sciences is something bordering on the mysterious ... there is no
> rational explanation for it."
Mathematics is nothing but a language for describing
relationships between numbers. Its usefulness to the natural
sciences is limited to what can be counted, even if the counting
involves arbitrarily slicing a continuum into chunks.
Being concerned strictly with quantity, it has nothing useful to
say about quality. The 'mystery' that Wigner sees is nothing but
wonder that there are many things rather than just one or none.
<snip>
--
"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the
range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally
impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it."
-- George Orwell as Syme in "1984"
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