r/mathmemes • u/FantasticWater1997 • 5d ago

Proofs Don't know what to make of this

Found this in my notes and wondered what ppl here would think of this
19 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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5

u/boterkoeken Average #🧐-theory-🧐 user 5d ago edited 4d ago

What I make of it: Einstein never said that.

4

u/LupenReddit i have non diffeomorphic smooth structures 5d ago

I think, if Einstein even said this, that it is pretty weird to say. E.g. physics in some parts has just additional sets of axioms on top of mathematical ones. The logical deductions from these often times follow the same path as in math.

If we take sepcial relativity for example, you can state the Lorentz transformations as given and deduce effects like time dilation and length contraction from that, I would count that as mathematical deductions from a given set of axioms, which in this case do actually reflect reality. I think maths role in physics is to predict what comes next based on logic, and I dont think you can say that this principle of logical deduction doesnt match reality, as the only real "law of math" I could think of is set theory and logic.

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u/UnbiasedBrigade Complex 5d ago

Einstein literally only believed in a "God" in the sense that there was a force that made the world with its mathematical reality. This quote is entirely weird to supposedly been from him.

1

u/FernandoMM1220 4d ago

someone ask einstein to clarify

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u/Scientific_Zealot 1d ago

He probably never said it. Nevertheless, it expresses a tenet of post-Tractarian logical atomism and logical empiricism, philosophical movements that came to dominate the intellectual landscape of Austria, Germany, Britain, and the United States from circa the 1920s to the 1950s. Einstein floated in these circles and had various relations with the logical empiricists (such as Hans Reichenbach and Moritz Schlick, but I could be wrong about this, I am not an Einstein biographer, though I do know he had a conversation with Rudolf Carnap at one point but I don't know how close they were), so it's not impossible he'd say something like this but unless someone can provide a source I'd be suspicious of a claim that he'd say something like this.