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Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

The document discusses whether mathematics is invented or discovered. It presents views from mathematicians and philosophers on both sides of the debate. Roger Penrose believes mathematics has an independent Platonic existence, while philosopher Mark Belaguer notes many mathematical structures are not useful for studying the physical world. Frank Wilczek thinks mathematics is mostly discovered, with new axioms being rare inventions but still inspired by nature. In the end, the document concludes there are two possibilities for how mathematics describes the physical world precisely, and four views on the essence of mathematics, with only one being true - it could be physical, mental, Platonic, or fictional.

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Janine Cundangan
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46 views

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

The document discusses whether mathematics is invented or discovered. It presents views from mathematicians and philosophers on both sides of the debate. Roger Penrose believes mathematics has an independent Platonic existence, while philosopher Mark Belaguer notes many mathematical structures are not useful for studying the physical world. Frank Wilczek thinks mathematics is mostly discovered, with new axioms being rare inventions but still inspired by nature. In the end, the document concludes there are two possibilities for how mathematics describes the physical world precisely, and four views on the essence of mathematics, with only one being true - it could be physical, mental, Platonic, or fictional.

Uploaded by

Janine Cundangan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Albert Einstein said: “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is
comprehensible.” Physicist Eugene Wigner wrote of “the unreasonable effectiveness of
mathematics” in science. So is mathematics invented by humans, like chisels and hammers, cars
and computers, music, and art? Or is mathematics discovered, always out there, somewhere,
like mysterious islands waiting to be found?.
Roger Penrose, one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians, says that “people
often find it puzzling that something abstract like mathematics could really describe reality.” But
you cannot understand atomic particles and structures, such as gluons and electrons, he says,
except with mathematics. “These equations are fantastically accurate,” he remarks. “Newton’s
theory has a precision of something like one part in 10 million. Einstein’s theory something like
one part in 100 billion.” Penrose famously believes that mathematics has an independent
existence, a “Platonic existence” (following Plato’s “forms”) that is radically distinct from
physical space and time. “Certainly,” he says, “mathematicians view mathematics as something
out there, which seems to have a reality independent of the ordinary kind of reality of things like
chairs, which we normally think of as real. It’s sometimes referred to as a ‘Platonic world,’ a
Platonic reality. … I like to think of mathematics as a bit like geology or archeology, where you’re
really exploring beautiful things out there in the world, which have been out there, in fact, for
ages and ages and ages, and you’re revealing them for the first time.” Penrose describes three
kinds of “worlds”— physical, mental, and mathematical (Platonic)—and he wonders whether
“the mathematical reality of the Platonic world gives reality to these worlds.” But not everyone
agrees.
Philosopher Mark Belaguer notes that “there are tons and tons of mathematical
structures that are of no use at all in studying the physical world” and the reason that
“mathematicians started studying those structures that turned out to be useful was because they
lived in the physical world.” But do abstract mathematical objects really exist in the world?
Belaguer cites four opposing views: the “mentalistic” view that mathematical objects are all in
our head; the “physicalistic” view that mathematical objects exist in the physical world; the
Platonic view that the mathematical objects are nonphysical and nonmental abstract objects;
and the “anti-realist” view that there aren’t mathematical objects at all. (Belaguer defines an
“abstract object,” such as a number, as “not physical, not mental, and not entering into causal
relations. So an abstract object is not like any object we ever encounter in our ordinary lives.
And belief in those kinds of abstract objects is called Platonism because it was famously Plato’s
view that there were such things.”)

Frank Wilczek said that mathematics is both invented and discovered,” but he thinks
“it’s mostly discovered.” Mathematics, he says, “is the process of taking axioms, definite sets of
assumptions, and drawing out the consequences. So, devising axioms is invention, and drawing
out the consequences is discovery.” He explains that, “Occasionally, you have to introduce new
sets of axioms like the passage from Euclidean geometry to non-Euclidean geometry. These are
epical events in mathematics, which, in a sense, are inventions.” But isn’t the world constructed
with non-Euclidean geometry, such as Einstein’s theory of relativity, so that it was somehow
always there? “Inventions have to come from somewhere,” Wilczek responds. “So they could be
inspired by natural phenomena. … You can invent all kinds of axioms, but most of them won’t be
interesting. And the ones that are interesting are discoveries, so even the inventions have some
element of discovery. So as he said, mathematics is more discovered than invented, and this only
makes it more so.”

So, is mathematics invented or discovered? Here’s what we know. Mathematics describes


the physical world with remarkable precision. Why? There are two possibilities. First, math
somehow underlies the physical world, generates it. Or second, math is a human description of
how we describe certain regularities in nature, and because there is so much possible
mathematics, some equations are bound to fit. As for the essence of mathematics, there are four
possibilities. Only one is really true. Math could be; physical, in the real world, actually existing;
mental, in the mind, only a human construct; Platonic, nonphysical, nonmental abstract objects;
or fictional, anti-realist, utterly made up. Math is physical or mental or Platonic or fictional.

Reference: http://www.scienceandreligiontoday.com/2010/04/01/is-mathematics-invented-or-
discovered/

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