My[confined]Space

denmarkian (UID# 72) 0  0
April 26, 2010 at 8:27 am

What’s so “shallow and pointless” about mathematics?

without math, there would be NONE of the derivative sciences indicated here:
no physics – which explains the physical interactions of objects from galaxies down to quarks and neutrinos

no chemistry – which explains the chemical interactions of atoms and molecules

no biology – which explains how living organisms function and interact with one another

no psychology – which attempts to explain how the human brain is affected chemically by interpretations of events in the outside environment

no sociology – which attempts to explain how a large groups of brains (inside humans) develop rules and behaviors that allow for the greatest benefit to the group as a whole

I’ve taken classes in all of these subjects, and they’re all dependent on mathematics, they just get more dependent on mathematics as you go up this “purity” spectrum.

I mean, there are even more things that just wouldn’t be without math; there would be no engineering, because engineering is all about designing things to precision so they will operate the way you want them to. You can’t be precise without math.

There would be no western music. The 12-tone major scale is mathematical: octaves are logarithmic, A below middle C is 440 Hz, A above middle C is 880 Hz.

We would have absolutely no understanding of wave motion; no sound, no light, no fluid dynamics. Hell, we wouldn’t even know about electromagnetics or that light is just part of a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that includes radio waves, micro waves, and x-rays.

Without math, there is no science.

How dare you say it is “shallow and pointless”.