Into the Unknown

A Synthesis Paper in MTH 101

(Mathematics in the Modern World)

Mathematics underlies our physical world⁠—in nature, technology, medicine,

architecture, in our homes, and even in the body—but its mere existence in our universe is
questionable, something that is debated by many. The presented controversy in the video
was whether mathematics is invented or discovered, and we’re convinced that it’s one of
those tough open-ended questions that doesn’t have a right or wrong answer.
Mathematicians also constantly argued on the assumption that Mathematics is one of these
forms: physical, mental, platonic, or fictional. Nevertheless, we racked our brains in trying to
answer these questions—and this is where we winded up. In order to solve the mystery of
mathematics’ actuality, we’re going to expound on why we think mathematics is a fusion of
invented and discovered. Yet, we are leaning towards the idea that Mathematics is more
discovered than invented.

Before we watched the video, our perspective and view of Mathematics was that we
thought it was no more than just simple abstract equations made up of numbers and
formulas. Of course, we understood that Mathematics describes the real world and that it is
essential to our existence, but we never stopped and really thought about it. We never dug
deeper on the concept and philosophy behind Mathematics, we never asked ourselves the
question of whether or not Mathematics is invented or discovered.

The documentary covered extensively on the essence of mathematics as to whether

it is mental or purely in the mind, physical where it exists in reality, platonic or has a distinct
entity separate from the world, or anti-realist where it does not really exist. In addition, it
expounded on how mathematics could describe the reality of the physical world we’re living
in with precision. The certain regularities and patterns in our reality were rendered by
mathematics in a specific and accurate structure. However, it fails to elucidate on how the
mathematics that we know of today is actually selective and limited. Mathematical equations
only approximately describe the real world, and even then only describe a limited subset of
all the phenomena around us (Abbott, 2013). Our focus is bound only to the physical
problems where we can apply these mathematical tools. For instance, when distinct
subatomic particles collide in a particle accelerator, physicists turn to measures such as
energy and momentum and not to the end number of particles, which would reveal only
partial information about how the original particles collided because additional particles can
be created in the process. In our world, there are a slew of events for which no precise
mathematical predictions can be made, at least not in theory.

Mathematics according to the video is a lot of things. The video did not really provide
one exact answer to what Mathematics or its characteristics really are. So we think that the
nature of Mathematics depends on how a person defines it. For instance, Roger Penrose
believes that Mathematics is platonic in nature, which means that it is something
non-physical, non-mental or is something that exists in a completely different world. He
believes that because of the fact that we quote “These equations are fantastically accurate”
that these concepts must have a reality that is independent of the reality we know of. His
stance on the nature of Mathematics means that he leans towards the idea that Mathematics
is discovered rather than invented. According to the philosopher Mark Belaguer, there is no
 Into the Unknown

A Synthesis Paper in MTH 101

(Mathematics in the Modern World)

correct answer whether this body of knowledge is mental, physical, platonic or fiction. He
said, “It doesn’t look like we have any way of knowing whether they exist. So we can’t
discover whether Platonism or fictionalism is the right view.” In his stance, there is no way of
proving that this abstract idea which is mathematics truly has an existence. Therefore it may
or may not be discovered or invented. Now you would think a mathematician who has
studied this concept for years probably has a better grasp of the nature of the said concept.
But mathematician Gregory Chaitin is surprisingly “not quite sure where we are.” At first he
thought of mathematics as platonic just like Roger Penrose. But as he spent more time in
this field, things started to become blurry. He shares that mathematicians should start
behaving in a way that experimental scientists do. This leads us to believe that he must think
of Mathematics now as something that can also be invented. He now believes its nature is
empirical, which means he believes it is physical or something perceivable by the human
senses and something that we invent as we go. The next person we meet in the video is
sure of his stance on what the nature of Mathematics is. Stephen Wolfram thinks of it as an
artifact, which is a thing that does not exist originally but happens because of investigative
procedure. He believes that simple rules, not complex ones construct reality. The fact that
“One can make theorems and abstract proofs of those theorems.” is something he uses to
explain why Mathematics is something humans may invent. There is a possibility of failure in
proving these theorems, but we just won’t be able to see it because according to him the
way Mathematics has progressed avoids this possibility. Lastly, we learn of the idea that
Mathematics is something both invented and discovered. According to Frank Wilczek,
inventions in some way can be inspired by natural phenomena. He gives the passage of
Euclidean geometry to non-Euclidean geometry as an example of math being invented, but
he also said that interesting axioms are ones that are discovered. Therefore, inventions have
some element of discovery.

Beyond any doubt, the video left us with mixed feelings about mathematics in
general. Most mathematicians who were interviewed handed borderline responses to the
main question—they too were unsure of the true nature of mathematics, despite years of
studying the discipline. While others may have given a concrete and comprehensive answer,
the next dilemma for us was dissecting it; trying to figure out what it meant. This gave us a
sense of detachment or indifference towards the documentary itself due to its convoluted
sum and substance. However, the despair of not being able to come up with a conclusion
motivated us to go over each mathematician’s point of view with a fine-tooth comb. Learning
the ropes of mathematics was the first step; this required us to understand the different
terminologies that the mathematicians used in the interview. Subsequently, we scrutinized
every thought that they shared, compared it with our own prior knowledge about
mathematics, and came up with our own deductions This gave us an inkling of hope and
excitement—not to mention, a deep feeling of involvement towards the controversy being
debated—because now we have established a standpoint on the discussion.

Simply put, this documentary entirely shifted our view and perspective of
mathematics. What was once a subject in school—composed of numbers, theories,
 Into the Unknown

A Synthesis Paper in MTH 101

(Mathematics in the Modern World)

equations, and rules—is now painted in our minds as one of the many complexities of our
universe. Mathematics is generated and found everywhere in the physical world; at the same
time, it is also a human description that explains the different patterns that are developed in
nature. Our final supposition that mathematics is both invented and discovered can be
supported and justified by Frank Wilczek’s statement. According to him, the process of
making up an axiom was a form of invention and that drawing out the consequence is the
discovery. We’re also on the same page with Wilczek when he said that mathematics is
mostly discovered. Mathematics has been existing way back before we even knew about the
concept of numbers, theories, and the term “mathematics” itself. This is analogous to Roger
Penrose’s ideas wherein he believed that mathematics is like geology or archaeology; it’s
been out there for ages, just waiting to be discovered.