Reality cannot be turned into mathematics
IAI TV • • science
Key Points:
- Mathematician Jobst Landgrebe and philosopher Barry Smith argue that fully mathematizing reality is an illusion because natural systems like the climate and human brain are fundamentally irregular and unpredictable.
- Despite centuries of belief since Leibniz that all human thought and reality could be mechanized and modeled mathematically, today’s powerful computational models still can only predict small, regular portions of complex systems.
- Current optimism about accurately predicting long-term climate changes, programming biology like software, or emulating human intelligence in machines is misguided and potentially harmful, leading to wasted resources and risky technologies.
- The historical success of mathematical physics, from Newton to modern engineering, has driven progress but also fostered an unrealistic belief in limitless scientific control and predictability of all phenomena.
- True scientific progress requires flexible heuristics that allow intervention in complex realities without exhaustive mathematical descriptions, rather than relying solely on comprehensive models.
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