The Einstein black hole equation got me thinking. In a universe where so many things seem random, unexplained, and misunderstood, how can numbers on a paper explain and predict how the universe works?
It blows my mind that this concept (math) is so young relative to the universe and can be used to explain how and why things happen. Where’s the connection?
In: Mathematics
Mathematics merely provides a model for the physical world based on logical foundations and calibrated to physical observations.
There’s a deep question about whether mathematics actually explains it, or merely models it.
Think of it like when you look at a picture of a star or a mountain or a cloud or a tree.
You’re not looking at the actual object but a 2 dimensional representation of it that to your eyes looks similar to what it would look like if you were exactly where the lens was.
The image provides a good representation of that object, in the case of the star, much much older than the invention of the camera. You can go deeper and believe the image captured some “essence” of the object but that’s a philosophical question now.
That’s like the use of mathematics to describe the physical world.
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