Tech — Work — Ramblings

by Mike Kalvas

202211031026 The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics

Despite the fact that mathematics can be disregarded (using valid, coherent arguments) as a game of symbols unrelated to any ground truth of reality, we have to admit that it's unreasonably effective at describing, modeling, and communicating about reality.1 This is especially true in science and engineering.

Mathematics is a sort of universal mental tool for clear thinking.1

Einstein once said that the fundamental paradox of life is that it appears the world is logically constructed.1 Assuming this is true, it can explain why mathematics is an effective analogy for reality (202110251122 Analogy is a highly effective communication method).

  1. Hamming, R. W. (2020). The art of doing science and engineering: Learning to learn (pp. 308). Stripe Press. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53349431-the-art-of-doing-science-and-engineering ↩ ↩2 ↩3