Why can mathematics and physics simulate natural phenomena so closely in thought experiments, calculations and computer programs?
In: 163
There isn’t a widely accepted answer to this question. Why should the universe follow consistent rules at all? How can we even judge whether maths and science work well to describe the universe, without assuming that they do work? What even are maths and science? These are not straightforward issues.
The physicist Eugene Wigner wrote a paper called “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences”, in which he argued that it’s actually pretty spooky how neatly and successfully the universe can be described by mathematical theories. This paper was very influential, so that phrase “unreasonable effectiveness” comes up a lot. Some people agree with him, some people agree that maths is very good at describing the universe but think there are reasonable explanations for it, and some people disagree that it’s especially effective.
Latest Answers