Sunday, April 9, 2017

The myth of transcendent mathematics

Even in mathematics there is no one correct or universal math. In Where Mathematics Comes From (Lakoff & Nunez, Basic Books, 2000), there are equally valid but mutually inconsistent maths depending on one's premised axioms (354-55). This is because math is also founded on embodied, basic categories and metaphors, from which particular axioms are unconsciously based (and biased), and can go in a multitude of valid inferential directions depending on which metaphor (or blend) is used in a particular contextual preference. Hence they dispel the myth of a transcendent, Platonic math while validating a plurality of useful and accurate maths.

PS: It's why I call this sort of postmetaphysical kosmic address Multipli City.

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