As much as I like philosophy of mathematics, I never feel quite at ease with sets being some universal foundation.
Lists, sets, graphs, all seem quite fundamental to us humans, but where in nature does one observe these weird things? A cave or a jug are highly complex things. Perhaps molecules resemble a graph, but if I understand physics correctly, atoms move like crazy and it's almost accidental that the graph structure is somewhat stable in most molecules.
This led me to believe that these fundamental containers are probably a byproduct of how our brains work, more than that they are fundamental outside of those.
Thanks to ChatGPT, I now know that this makes me a mathematical fictionalist, or mathematical anti-realist.
Anyone care to talk me out of this? :)
Lists, sets, graphs, all seem quite fundamental to us humans, but where in nature does one observe these weird things? A cave or a jug are highly complex things. Perhaps molecules resemble a graph, but if I understand physics correctly, atoms move like crazy and it's almost accidental that the graph structure is somewhat stable in most molecules.
This led me to believe that these fundamental containers are probably a byproduct of how our brains work, more than that they are fundamental outside of those.
Thanks to ChatGPT, I now know that this makes me a mathematical fictionalist, or mathematical anti-realist.
Anyone care to talk me out of this? :)