"the contents of mathematics is far from arbitrary -- while an infinite number of mathematical objects might potentially be envoked [sic], the few that prove interesting develop a very small number of core concepts. These core concepts are not arbitrary -- they are elaborations of structures which are discovered during the study of nature. There are four of these core concepts: number, geometry, algebra and logic."
It could be as well argued that there is only one core concept: computation. (Or maybe "symbol".)
The interesting question is: of all the myriad possible things that are computable, how is it that we are able find the unfathomably small subset whose behavior corresponds to (what we perceive as) physical reality? That was the question Wigner was asking, and I don't think Smolin answers it at all.
It could be as well argued that there is only one core concept: computation. (Or maybe "symbol".)
The interesting question is: of all the myriad possible things that are computable, how is it that we are able find the unfathomably small subset whose behavior corresponds to (what we perceive as) physical reality? That was the question Wigner was asking, and I don't think Smolin answers it at all.