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raincoletoday at 12:50 AM1 replyview on HN

Math is not about truths, at least not by the meaning of "truth" as a word in daily use.

Math has been almost purely arbitrary since ~ late 19th/early 20th century. There are uncountably many correct mathematical theorems. Almost all of them can't even be written in symbols. Even if you have a tape with infinite length (which is already longer than the whole physical universe!) filled with theorems, they are still only 0% of all correct theorems. That's how arbitrary math is.

> The area of a triangle

Yes, even this is arbitrary. The rigorous definition of triangle is arbitrary. People just subconsciously choose something that vaguely approximates their physical intuition.


Replies

GPersontoday at 2:07 AM

The tastes and interests, and cultural pretext, of human beings are not arbitrary just because they’re not easily described.

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