# Is math something that humans created or something we discovered? Is looking at reality mathematical

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 10, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309 "2018-11-10T17:15:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cathy967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Cathy967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cathy967)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309/1 "2018-11-10T17:15:11Z")

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Pondering #5

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**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309/2 "2018-11-10T17:25:10Z")

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created

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**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309/3 "2018-11-10T18:40:23Z")

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“How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things?”  
  – Einstein

The classic paper on the subject is [The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences](https://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Wigner.html) by Eugene Wigner.

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**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309/4 "2018-11-10T18:43:22Z")

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I think math is a good test case supporting the view that “created” and “discovered” aren’t mutually exclusive and aren’t the only options. There certainly seems to be something to it that we couldn’t have made different,

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**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-math-something-that-humans-created-or-something-we-discovered-is-looking-at-reality-mathematical/824309/5 "2018-11-10T18:54:00Z")

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Mod Hat On

Cathy967, we expect more effort when starting a thread. Brief OPs with no explanations don’t cut it.

Slow down, create fewer threads, but give more thought and attention into fleshing out the ones you do start.