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Liam

Mathematics.

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Is mathematics an invention, a discovery, both, or neither? Argue amongst yourselves.

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I say it's both. The concept of working with basic numbers was invented to help try explain the natural world. But higher maths were discovered to work extremely well when trying to explain said world.

Calculus was an invention, but then they realized it applied very well to real-world situations and science.

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It's an annoying subject taught by a pothead that I unfortunately need to pass in order to graduate.

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Mathematics be the law of logic for events which hold their place in the universe.

Mathematics applies to everything, with infinite precision, constantly.

Even if stars and galaxies were sucked up by the void, mathematics would still be. The "real" things would not.

Mathematics rocks.

Amen.

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I don't really car much for math. It's the most boring subject in school. But its so goddamn easy that I can't help but use it all the time.

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Maths is a tool.

Mathematics rocks.


- Only if you're good at it.
I hate people who walk about saying that maths is the most important thing in the f***ing universe, looking down on every other subject.

I damn hope that you aren't one of them Fredrik.

(If your are, then you just hit the bottom of my "hit list")

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No I'm not. But it's fun sometimes :)


Ahh good. You are actually one of the considerate mathematicans.

Yeah, even I agree that maths can be fun at times (even though I suck at everything with numbers) :-).

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the most USELESS, boreing, stupid class in school: english


If English is your native language then I'd agree, but if it's a foreign language that you're being taught then it depends on the teacher you have.

English used to be my fav subject (obviously, English is not my native language).

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There's no such thing as good or bad subjects, only good or bad teachers.


Excacly!
Right now for instance, I'm suffering under lack of good German teachers - result: I don't speak German as well as I once did.

Also, I once had a lousy English teacher - Result: my oral English dropped from good to half-decent.

But being a teacher isn't an easy job, I should know because my Mum was a teacher, and sometimes she would come home extremely frustrated...yep being a teacher can be extremely harsh sometimes.

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There's no such thing as good or bad subjects, only good or bad teachers.

But there are exciting and boring subjects.

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But there are exciting and boring subjects.


Depends on the person.
For instance Maths is a damn boring subject no matter how good the teacher is IMO, but some people absolutely "worship" this subject as if it was a God.

Thus, no subject can be generalized as "boring", but you're right that from *one* person's point of view there ARE both exciting and boring subjects.

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I like math.


You see?
As long as there are people who like maths, I am not forced to study it, YAY!

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There's no such thing as good or bad subjects, only good or bad teachers.

That applies to my last two CS professors.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. But those that can do, can't really teach. Especially if they're an introverted guru-type.

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Depends on the person.

Ya, that's what I was getting at.

If I hated math, it wouldn't matter what the teacher did. I might find the entertainment that goes with the math fun, but I would still hate the math itself. Teachers can make the class itself interesting or boring but not always the subject it teaches.

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Well it's both. A discovery cause Math explains how the Universe works. An invention cause our current math model's not the "real" one (the one that explains everything).

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Well it's both. A discovery cause Math explains how the Universe works. An invention cause our current math model's not the "real" one (the one that explains everything).


- How can you be so sure that maths explains the damn universe?
Science is merely yet another religion - there are too many theories and not enough hard evidence.

The Big Bang theory, for instance, is just that - a theory.

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How can you be so sure that maths explains the damn universe?


Because it can. Obviously we haven't been able to use it to explain all the workings in the Universe, but it does and has explained many things. Which is probably the reason why scientists use it in science so much.

Science is merely yet another religion


Science is a religion? Why don't you go look up those words in a dictionary and then come back here and try to tell me how exactly science is a religion.

there are too many theories and not enough hard evidence. The Big Bang theory, for instance, is just that - a theory.


That depends on what part of science you are talking about. Some of it is more concrete than other branches.

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Science is a religion? Why don't you go look up those words in a dictionary and then come back here and try to tell me how exactly science is a religion.


- A religion is the way you look at Life, the way you try to explain Life.

Science is an attempt to explain Life just like every other religion. But science does it in a more sophisticated and less "fairy tale-like" manner.

That's what I'm told anyway.

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Science is merely yet another religion - there are too many theories and not enough hard evidence.

There are no "facts" in any science; it's all theory. That way, if a better, more plausible explaination for something is presented, they'll be able to toss out the old concept and integrate it better. No more great debales over what is "real" or "true", like back in the Reneissance (sp?).

And using the "belief"/"worship" model I proposed in this thread, you could say that the pursuit of science is a form of religion.

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