Is math discovered or invented? - Jeff Dekofsky
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-math-discovered-or-invented-jeff-dekofsky Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Did we create mathematical concepts to help us understand...
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Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Since ancient times, mankind has hotly debated whether mathematics was discovered or invented. Did we create mathematical concepts to help us understand the universe around us, or is math the native language of the universe itself, existing whether we find its truths or not? Are numbers, polygons and equations truly real, or merely ethereal representations of some theoretical ideal? The independent reality of math has some ancient advocates. The Pythagoreans of 5th Century Greece believed numbers were both living entities and universal principles. They called the number one, "the monad," the generator of all other numbers and source of all creation. Numbers were active agents in nature. Plato ar...
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Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Since ancient times, mankind has hotly debated whether mathematics was discovered or invented. Did we create mathematical concepts to help us understand the universe around us, or is math the native language of the universe itself, existing whether we find its truths or not? Are numbers, polygons and equations truly real, or merely ethereal representations of some theoretical ideal? The independent reality of math has some ancient advocates. The Pythagoreans of 5th Century Greece believed numbers were both living entities and universal principles. They called the number one, "the monad," the generator of all other numbers and source of all creation. Numbers were active agents in nature. Plato ar...
