Are numbers are real?
Posted By Jane on January 21, 2000
Q. Do you think numbers are real?
- Nicole Hefner
A. Numbers are as real as words. They are symbols that express things. Humans love to describe things, numbers are a tool for description. Even imaginary numbers (square roots of negative numbers) are real. Whatever we have words or numbers for is real to the extent that they at least exist in people’s minds and that’s where reality is. The real question exists inside your question- WHAT IS REAL? There are many different perimeters we can draw up for this one, and in different situations we’ll draw them differently. Reality is a fleeting amorphous thing. Reality is not concrete or solid- yet it can be. Actually it’s more like numbers are real but reality isn’t. Numbers are symbols, we know that. Reality is also a symbol, we resist this. Reality is a symbol for one conclusive interpretation of a set of variables. How can we understand so much and so little at once? There are many realities, that’s how. Numbers are a reality.
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