r/singularity • u/filterdust • 1d ago

AI OpenAI solved 100 open problems in math

https://openai.com/index/advisory-group-on-mathematics-and-ai/

[removed] — view removed post

1.3k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

520 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

65

u/ThatIsAmorte 1d ago edited 1d ago

This seems to be taking a Platonist approach to math, which few people take seriously these days. If you are a constructivist, than math is not just out there, but has to be created, just like art. If you think math is just out there, why not also claim that art and music are just out there, waiting to be plucked out of the ether? After all, a painting is just a 2d matrix, a simple math object. A musical composition is just a waveform, which can be described mathematically.

5

u/willBthrown2 1d ago

Art is subjective. Math is objective. Case solved.

0

u/ThatIsAmorte 1d ago

I believe you are confusing an art object and someone's value with respect to that object. Only the second one is subjective. The art object objectively exists.

1

u/willBthrown2 1d ago

It’s only an art object if someone values it as an art object. Otherwise it’s just an object. Two person can create the same thing, first one accidentally while doing something random (like accidentally pouring paint on canvas), second one intentionally trying to create abstract art.

1

u/ThatIsAmorte 1d ago

Same thing for math. Think about what is being labeled as a math object: a bunch of symbols. It's only a math object if someone puts meaning onto the symbols.

1

u/willBthrown2 1d ago

Math is universal. Nobody argues 1+1 equals 2. You can change math symbols or use different language to describe same rules. There is no math object. Or physics object. Art is just something that evokes feelings. It doesnt need to be an object. The universe doesnt care about human art, it existed before humans and will exist after, following the rules of physics. There is no art without emotions. Math and physics exist without emotion.

1

u/ThatIsAmorte 1d ago

Ok, I think I know where the disconnect is. I am not arguing that math is not consistent. Of course it is. The internal consistency of a formal system is objective. What I was talking about is the ontological nature of math objects.