Dr H video "are we made of math?"

[notFritzArgelander]

[notFritzArgelander]

It's a pretty good video but "real" is defined in terms of empirical utility. This is a misrepresentation of the Platonist position in which "Real" is defined to be independent of empirical utility and is conceived of as independent of sense perception.

Most working mathematicians are Platonists. This is nonsense of course, but it is human nature to overindulge in self congratulatory narratives. Mostly it does no harm beyond giving the false illusion that math is more Real than real.

Electrons don't need an internal computer to figure out how to move as Platonism would require.

This is an excellent link of the foundations of mathematics that is particularly clear that the foundations are not secure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundatio ... athematics

Full disclosure, I am an intuitionist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundatio ... tuitionism

[turboscrew]

I think I'm close to intuitionism as well. In my mind, there is "reality", which we experience, but through our senses only. Then there are theories. I take them as abstract constructions that we are trying to match (homomorphically, but as isomorphically as we can) to our experiences of the reality. The theoretical universe is kind of parallel to the real universe.