From: Nam Nguyen on
Marshall wrote:
>
> It has been proposed on this thread that math is just a game
> with no significance or utility, except by coincidence (this is
> bullshit.)

Mathematics is a game of the mind. Whether or not that has any utility
or significance, or that is by coincidence, or that is "bullshit" doesn't
matter, to the fact that it's just a game.



From: dorayme on
In article <2sU2n.18279$Sh7.5672(a)newsfe25.iad>,
Nam Nguyen <namducnguyen(a)shaw.ca> wrote:

> Marshall wrote:
> >
> > It has been proposed on this thread that math is just a game
> > with no significance or utility, except by coincidence (this is
> > bullshit.)
>
> Mathematics is a game of the mind. Whether or not that has any utility
> or significance, or that is by coincidence, or that is "bullshit" doesn't
> matter, to the fact that it's just a game.

It can be treated as a game with strict rules. That does not mean it is
just a game nor that it is a coincidence that mathematics is useful to
us. What matters depends on what the question is. If we are interested
in what maths is, it is simply false that it is just a game and it is
false that it has mere coincidental practical applications.

--
dorayme
From: Michael Gordge on
On Jan 11, 11:45 pm, PD <thedraperfam...(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> I didn't see a yes or no anywhere in your answer,

Thats encouraging, all you need do now is to expand non-contradictory
identification into your own ideas, e.g. lines that are parallel do
not converge, intersect and or diverge no matter how far their
journey.

MG
From: Nam Nguyen on
dorayme wrote:
> In article <2sU2n.18279$Sh7.5672(a)newsfe25.iad>,
> Nam Nguyen <namducnguyen(a)shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>> Marshall wrote:
>>> It has been proposed on this thread that math is just a game
>>> with no significance or utility, except by coincidence (this is
>>> bullshit.)
>> Mathematics is a game of the mind. Whether or not that has any utility
>> or significance, or that is by coincidence, or that is "bullshit" doesn't
>> matter, to the fact that it's just a game.
>
> It can be treated as a game with strict rules.

If mathematical truths are absolute, existing independently outside
human mind then mathematics wouldn't be a game. But that's not the case.
Ask yourself which particular truth that can't be proven false in a
different context, and you would see that it's just a game of choosing
reasoning frameworks, manipulating symbols, interpreting models, etc...

> That does not mean it is
> just a game nor that it is a coincidence that mathematics is useful to
> us.

It's a misconception that games in general have to be useless to human beings.
From: dorayme on
In article <6pV2n.3782$ZB2.1447(a)newsfe13.iad>,
Nam Nguyen <namducnguyen(a)shaw.ca> wrote:

> dorayme wrote:
> > In article <2sU2n.18279$Sh7.5672(a)newsfe25.iad>,
> > Nam Nguyen <namducnguyen(a)shaw.ca> wrote:
> >
> >> Marshall wrote:
> >>> It has been proposed on this thread that math is just a game
> >>> with no significance or utility, except by coincidence (this is
> >>> bullshit.)
> >> Mathematics is a game of the mind. Whether or not that has any utility
> >> or significance, or that is by coincidence, or that is "bullshit" doesn't
> >> matter, to the fact that it's just a game.
> >
> > It can be treated as a game with strict rules.
>
> If mathematical truths are absolute, existing independently outside
> human mind then mathematics wouldn't be a game. But that's not the case.
> Ask yourself which particular truth that can't be proven false in a
> different context, and you would see that it's just a game of choosing
> reasoning frameworks, manipulating symbols, interpreting models, etc...

Well, I don't know how you would work it so that one could see that
there are no primes between 1 and 21 and such things without changing
the *meanings* of the words used.

>
> > That does not mean it is
> > just a game nor that it is a coincidence that mathematics is useful to
> > us.
>
> It's a misconception that games in general have to be useless to human beings.

Who is falling for that misconception. Neither of us! But the question
that is relevant is what sort of use. Mere use because it reduces stress
levels is not much relevant!

--
dorayme