this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024
710 points (97.1% liked)

Science Memes

10309 readers
2055 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (19 children)

If someone needs another existental crisis here's a prompt:

  • Is math universal or is it a system of thought invented by humans and it only makes sense to us?
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Math is definitely universal. The math behind things in science wouldn't suddenly change on different alien planets. Take things like V = IR. That relies on multiplication and division. It's gonna be the same on other planets. The units, notation, etc. will be different but the concepts would be the same.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I'm no STEM major, so I may be way off, but this is how I see it.

V = IR isn't math. It's a way of defining the relationship and outcome of two specific physical qualities. It says that we combine the resistance of a medium ( R) with the current flowing through it (I) into another ~~joint~~ emergent quality we call voltage (V). We do this because it makes our understanding of the physical world easier to manage since this relationship has helpful applications.

Math is simply patterns in the relationships of quantities. It excludes any physical units or qualities. In other words, math is the art of counting.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Historically it was also the art of making precise drawings.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

I think you're misunderstanding my point. I'm not saying the relationship of V = IR means math exists, what I'm saying is that because that relationship factually exists aliens would have a way to quantify that relationship. Because of that they would have a way to express the concepts of multiplication and division.

load more comments (15 replies)