Is math just another name for applied philosophy

College Majors Science Majors
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<p>I am a student talking about stuff I am learning in calculus class, so what I say may feel uniformed and thats because I am not that far ahead in the maths and sciences. Please keep that in mind if I am missing large chunks of proves or evidense that disprove my thought process. I am taking calc, and we are going over some things and one thing came up about a right triangle. We all know how to calculate the length of the hypontinuse. If we have a right triangle with sides of lengths equal to 1, the hypotinuse will equal the square root of 2. Whats the issue here? Well, the hypotinuse has a finite length, we know that just by looking at it, but the decimals in root 2 go on forever. How exactly can a number that goes on forever represent a finite length?</p>

<p>This got me thinking, and it turns out there are serveral other issues at the basic level of math that have this same issue. Like how a positive times a negative make a negative, but 2 negatives make a postive. The explanation I was given was that it was made this way because any other way would basically break how math is used in science (directional uses I guess), but this set of rules is not really proven to be true, it is just accepted as such. Or how a positive number 1 and a negative number 1 will equal zero, but not in nature! Things just dont disapear in nature if they hit their ‘opposite.’ If matter and anti matter meet, they do not just zero out and disapear, a reaction occurs, so maybe they are not opposites, but instead materials that react together different from what we are used to seeing on earth. A positive charged object and a negative charged object meet, but they do not disapear, nor do the fields disapear, because if those 2 items ever seperate, those fields will exist again. But in math, when solving an equation, I can cancel things out nice and easy with this rule.</p>

<p>This is what math is, a version of applied logic, but not how nature works. I am fine with that, except we apply math to understanding nature and that is causing my brain to melt at trying to let go of these kinds of things. Am I just learning rules to a complex game or is there a fundamental truth in math that can be applied appropriately to nature? </p>

<p>I ask this because man kind loves to break things down into simpler parts, they like clean looking numbers and integers and shapes, but nothing in nature ever looks like that. I am liking how fractal geometry can take something as a whole thats seemingly complex, and break it down from the whole rather than by simpler parts (please note my knowledge of fractals comes from a Nova special).</p>

<p>I am basically a math major, so does it get any better for after calculus? Am I going to learn why this is so and why it can be applied to nature? Or am I just learning the rules of a game? Apologies if I rambled on.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiom[/url]”>http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiom&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>That article has a decent explanation of axioms (which we accept as true when doing math).</p>

<p>Your charged particle example is far from how mathematicians/ physicists think of charged particles, they can use math to model the particles as following Coulomb’s Law and can use diff eq to model the paths they take, but this is still on a very basic level because it assumes they are point charges and only behave in a classical sense (which is then corrected for by math that I don’t entirely understand yet).</p>

<p>It does get better depending on the classes you take and depending on if the professors tie it back somehow to the real world. Calculus 3/multivariable calculus/ vector calculus becomes much more applicable than the first calculus classes. If you haven’t gotten there yet, I’d advise you to bear with it at least until then (because most productive majors need it anyway) and then talk to your major advisors about any problems you may have.</p>

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<p>I am a math major also and i have a few response to your questions. The first is over your idea of the idea of a decimal going on forever, that is not exactly what is going on. Also your definition of zero is also not exact. Math is understanding the relationship between numbers and structures. Zero in math does not mean nothing rather it means a position where the structure is at. I know these are just quick responses and i wish i had the time two go into this matter with you more deeply but i would suggest that you take a course in number theory. Also there is a difference between science and math, when i started math i often bundle them together as the same but they are two different subject. Science is the study of the things we observe and math is the study of relationships between structures. It is good that you feel this way that means you are taking your math seriously which means you have the right major. Asking this question is also good keep on investigating and keep looking for answers. I would also suggest that you should speak with your major counselor or a professor whom has the time to guide you in the right direction. If you choose to continue this major it does become much more difficult then calculus and it does become very logical but by the time you graduate you will be able to solve complex problems logical. It also sounds like you should do a double major in math and some physical science.</p>

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<p>Hahahahahahaha, this is pretty funny.</p>

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<p>Physics is just an approximation of what goes on in the real world. It just happens to turn out that the approximations are good enough to describe most things.</p>

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<p>But a hippopotinuse doesn’t have finite length. Check out his ear, the shoreline theorem applies.</p>

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<p>Zero is not the same thing as the null set.</p>