Article Reality cannot be turned into mathematics

[C C]

https://iai.tv/articles/reality-cannot-b..._auid=2020

INTRO: For centuries, scientists and philosophers—from Leibniz to today’s AI visionaries—have dreamed of mathematizing reality, fully describing the world in equations that a machine can compute. But this is a dangerous illusion, argue mathematician and biochemist Jobst Landgrebe and philosopher Barry Smith, whose work on scientific modelling has been utilized by institutions like the US military and the National Institutes of Health, making him one of the world’s most highly cited philosophers.

Natural systems like the climate and the human brain, they contend, can never be fully captured by models, because they are fundamentally irregular and unpredictable. True progress depends on flexible heuristics, which allow us to intervene in reality without needing an exhaustive description of it. (MORE - details)

[Magical Realist]

Google AI

"The fallacy of misplaced concreteness (or reification) occurs when an abstract concept, model, or belief is mistakenly treated as a concrete, tangible reality. Coined by philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, this error ignores the necessary degree of abstraction in thought, mistaking theoretical maps for the physical territory.

Definition: Treating an abstract construct (e.g., "the economy," "market forces," "human nature") as if it were a physical, tangible object.

Origin: Coined by Alfred North Whitehead to describe the mistake of treating abstract, scientific, or mathematical models as the complete, concrete reality.

Examples:

Economics: Treating "The Market" as a conscious entity that "wants" or "demands" something, rather than a collection of individual transactions.

Society: Viewing a person solely through a label like "lower class" or "criminal," forgetting their concrete, complex humanity.

Nature: Referring to "Mother Nature" as a thinking agent that can "call" someone to action.

Consequences: This fallacy leads to flawed reasoning, reduced nuance, and poor decision-making by ignoring the context and concrete details of a situation.

How to Avoid It:

Distinguish between models and reality: Recognize that scientific theories, economic models, or social categories are simplified representations.

Contextualize: Consider the context and purpose behind an abstract term.

Test with counterexamples: Analyze whether the abstraction holds up in concrete, practical situations."

[confused2]

Google AI

"The fallacy of misplaced concreteness (or reification) occurs when an abstract concept, model, or belief is mistakenly treated as a concrete, tangible reality. Coined by philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, this error ignores the necessary degree of abstraction in thought, mistaking theoretical maps for the physical territory.

Definition: Treating an abstract construct (e.g., "the economy," "market forces," "human nature") as if it were a physical, tangible object.

Origin: Coined by Alfred North Whitehead to describe the mistake of treating abstract, scientific, or mathematical models as the complete, concrete reality.

Examples:

Economics: Treating "The Market" as a conscious entity that "wants" or "demands" something, rather than a collection of individual transactions.

Society: Viewing a person solely through a label like "lower class" or "criminal," forgetting their concrete, complex humanity.

Nature: Referring to "Mother Nature" as a thinking agent that can "call" someone to action.

Consequences: This fallacy leads to flawed reasoning, reduced nuance, and poor decision-making by ignoring the context and concrete details of a situation.

How to Avoid It:

Distinguish between models and reality: Recognize that scientific theories, economic models, or social categories are simplified representations.

Contextualize: Consider the context and purpose behind an abstract term.

Test with counterexamples: Analyze whether the abstraction holds up in concrete, practical situations."

Fair enough.. test with counterexamples..
The map is not the territory?
How much do you know about Australia?
Assuming you haven't been there ALL you know is the map.
So which is better .. the map or nothing?
Apart from the few things we are personally and intimately acquainted with the map (or mathematical abstraction) is the entirety of what we know.

[Ostronomos]

There is no doubt in my mind that reality is a mathematical construct. Anyone who attempts to argue otherwise in error. Such individuals tend to rely on the irregularities of nature to establish their argument.

The belief that reality is not mathematics stems from the belief that mathematics is a purely crystallized model that fails to explain the messy and irregular nature of the world we experience. But this argument fails because the Platonic mathematical ideals are all-encompassing. And they encompass all of reality's irregularities.

The author you quoted is sorely mistaken. Reality = mathematics = 1 * God.

This is the only logical conclusion. I condemn you for your lack of precision.

[Magical Realist]

Apart from the few things we are personally and intimately acquainted with the map (or mathematical abstraction) is the entirety of what we know.

OTOH I have a nice map of Oregon. It is very pretty and thorough and utterly reliable. It tells me where I'm going every time. But tell me, why would I want to live in a map when I have the real thing all around me?

[Ostronomos]

I possess knowledge of an eternal consciousness that few possess. There are many who continue to wallow in confusion. On one of my forums someone asked sarcastically, "what do we do all day in Heaven" - in an attempt to undermine the potential possibility of an after-life. It is the fatal flaw of the non-believer to follow the dictates of the ordinary and mundane. This is not where truth lies. The real dynamics of reality can only be penetrated by those of us who have access to a hidden reality.

[confused2]

But tell me, why would I want to live in a map when I have the real thing all around me?

For Oregon maybe you don't need a map. Did you know there was an aquarium with actual sharks in Oregon? Maybe there isn't - we could check on a ..?

There's folks want to know what goes on in the nucleus of an atom so they can 'see' how everything fits together .. you can't go there .. you need a map .. which turns out to be a mathematical model. A lot of quantum mechanics is so far outside of human experience that there's nothing to see except the model (map).

[Magical Realist]

For Oregon maybe you don't need a map. Did you know there was an aquarium with actual sharks in Oregon? Maybe there isn't - we could check on a ..?

Yes..I've been to that aquarium. And I didn't need a map at all.

There's folks want to know what goes on in the nucleus of an atom so they can 'see' how everything fits together .. you can't go there .. you need a map .. which turns out to be a mathematical model. A lot of quantum mechanics is so far outside of human experience that there's nothing to see except the model (map).

Quantum mechanics isn't reality. Reality is immediate and interactive and messy and unpredictable. Only a very small fragment has even been mapped. Abstractions are fine for figuring stuff out, at least abstractly, but reality is a far better teacher of what really is and what matters in the end. That's where I choose to live and I don't need a map for that.

[confused2]

Yes..I've been to that aquarium. And I didn't need a map at all.

Rats! I should have checked (on a map) before I posted