View Single Post
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 17-June-2009, 12:10 AM
tommac's Avatar
tommac tommac is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,641
Default

This is an interesting take ... basically you are saying that math allows you to extrapolate and deduce ...

However in order to do that you need to understand the problem in logic first. Or do you just think in math?

Quote:
Originally Posted by robross View Post
Math is a way to create abstract, self-consistent models of reality. It's not really an issue of "does this equation describe reality" as is the question "does this equation allow us to make predictions about the future?" If it does, it's a useful tool in itself.

There's really nothing quite like math for being able to predict the future. Without it, you're back to the pre-scientific method of determining "truth", and you might as well go back to trying to use sheep's entrails to predict the orbits of the planets.

Rob