quote:
Laws of physics depend on mathematics which depends on logic which in turn depends on necessary truths and abstract concepts which depends on a conscious mind.
Mr Q,
I agree with others in this thread that this reasoning is backwards - the physical world comes first. Our equations model what we find there.
But I think there is a very interesting question here - in fact a number of them. Not my own, of course, these have been thought of by many people.
- in what sense does 'mathematics' exist? Is it purely a creation of the human mind or does it have some kind of independent existence? Personally I find it very hard to imagine it's invented. For example, I think it's likely that once the concepts of integer and prime are defined, then all mathematicians must judge the same integers to be prime. This seems to be a property that's 'out there' rather than in our heads. But if so, where and how do 'prime numbers' actually exist? I really can't get my head around this one!
- where do physical laws come from? Why is mathematics so effective in describing physical reality?
However, I don't think either of these implies that there is a mind behind the universe.
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