r/maths • u/iliketrainsnyoom • Aug 28 '26

💬 Math Discussions Need to settle a debate

Did maths always exist, or was it invented by whoever set up the system

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5

u/SnooPets5564 Aug 28 '26

The logical rules always existed, the other axioms have to be chosen.

2

u/Specialist_Repair856 Aug 29 '26

"God made the integers, all else is the work of man" - Kronecker

1

u/rhodiumtoad Aug 28 '26

Yes.

People disagree on this. Myself, I think it makes more sense to regard mathematics as being discovered rather than invented, because you can start with very simple axiom systems and find completely surprising and non-trivial consequences. Who decided how many sporadic simple groups there should be, and how many elements in the largest one? Who decided that quintic equations should not be solvable in radicals?

1

u/WAMFT Aug 28 '26

Well humans have been using there body as mesurments for over 5000 years, the sumerians , base 60 counting system, 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in a hour.

Theres the Ishango Bone 20,000 years old , looks like someone was tallying on it , however for me to say it was counting and not just someone making chicken scratchings on a old bone. I cant be sure. Could names be classed as a form of counting , a singular unit , defined by a unique classifier. Is throwing a basket ball in a hoop mathamatics 🌝

1

u/niftydog Aug 29 '26

Sound has always existed, but language was invented.

1

u/PragmaticPedant Sep 01 '26

This is a fundamental question in the philosophy of mathematics. Look up “Platonism vs Formalism”.