Proof that numbers exist: Philosophy Forums

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Proof that numbers exist

Saint Michael
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Posted 09/18/09 - 02:09 AM:	#51
ManiacJack wrote: Can someone please give me a proof that numbers exist? It is that in my journey through life and all the talk of numbers and whatnot, I realized the other day that I have never seen number. I have seen squiggles, and many attest to the squiggle being number, but it appears that many cultures have used many different squiggles throughout time; and so seeing that as such, are we sure that numbers are not something subjective- that is, a matter of opinion because there is no proof for their existence? Sure, here's your proof. 42

ronlongo
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Posted 10/28/09 - 09:30 AM:	#52
The brain has many amazing capabilities including something called abstraction, something called imagination and something else called language. Abstraction allows us to do things such as group similar objects, e.g. the group of red things, the group of horses, the group of groups that I have created to arrange things into, etc. Imagination allows us to create concepts that don't have corresponding things in the universe; e.g. unicorns. Numbers are a result of language, abstraction and imagination. If numbers can be said to exist, then they exist only exist in the mind.

frank2010
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Posted 11/16/09 - 08:26 AM:	#53
ManiacJack wrote: Can someone please give me a proof that numbers exist? It is that in my journey through life and all the talk of numbers and whatnot, I realized the other day that I have never seen number. I have seen squiggles, and many attest to the squiggle being number, but it appears that many cultures have used many different squiggles throughout time; and so seeing that as such, are we sure that numbers are not something subjective- that is, a matter of opinion because there is no proof for their existence? 1) There is a number between 4 and 6 so 2) There are numbers. ;-) I think the existence of numbers is unquestionable. The real question is their nature.

MarchHare
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Posted 11/16/09 - 10:23 AM:	#54
sqeecoo wrote: Numbers are a formal man made system. Their existence is as real as street-names. Brilliant answer.
Doubt requires a reason to doubt. Nothing is immune from potential doubt. The correct response to a question isn't always to try to give the question's answer.

Bourbaki
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Posted 11/20/09 - 06:52 PM:	#55
1)Numbers are an organizational scheme which can be applied to mechanical processes in order to acheive a desired outcome. Recursively enumerable sets are basically programs and are producible by turing machines, the numbering scheme is used to organize their elements in a predicatable way (usually by size/number of bits) allows us to develop a mechanic procedure by which we can decide if a binary string is a member of the set. 2)Numbers are an organizational scheme by which we can compare repetative occurances of similar objects/stiuations to one another. 3)Numbers are a scheme to organize data, by comparision or arbitrarily decribing an order in which to list objects. 'Do numbers exists?'....begs the question. 'as what?'. No, there are no objects that you can touch, only a framework with which can organize any data you percieve in a set manner within well defined parameters. That framework exists, no, not as an object or a picture, but as a series of potential processes.

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