The double look on complex dimension
‘Nothing’ is an oxymoron Let us return to the metaphysical questions mentioned at the beginning of the previous article. What is the relationship between the real per se and the mental image we construct of it? Why is there something rather than nothing? Do we have free will? Are mathematical objects invented or discovered? These … Read more
Abstract: Math contains cognitive biases. To support this astonishing observation, I begin by going back in the history of mathematics. By erasing any intention within them, we have at the same time lost track of complexity and quality. These intentions exist, but are now hidden in acronyms, in particular the ‘=’ with multiple meanings. The … Read more
Vlatko Vedral, a physicist at Oxford, argues that reality is made only of waves and that the obsolete wave-particle dualism must be completely abandoned. This position is eliminatory reductionism. It denigrates the existence of the complex dimension of reality. I will show how it reintroduces a dualism, that of reality and spirit. The reductionist discourse … Read more
Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russel André Deledicq and Mickaël Launay tell in Dictionnaire amoureux des mathématiques how Frege saw his beautiful set theory dynamited by a seemingly innocuous firecracker, posed by Russel. The year is 1902. Logicians like Frege try to make sets the fundamental core on which to build all mathematics. Arithmetic operations thus … Read more
The relative intransigence of quantification Let’s dive into the fundamental meaning of quantification. It implies an intransigent separation between individuations. Is the nature of this separation knowable? Yes, if we can reduce individuation to parties, whose relationships create discontinuity. The separation is therefore intransigent but not irreducible. Except by adopting foundationalism, that is, to postulate … Read more