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Old December 24th 07, 03:26 PM posted to alt.astronomy
oldcoot
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Posts: 1,357
Default A dark future for cosmology

On Dec 24, 6:31*am, "Painius" wrote:

The Universe is more easily understood using
mathematics. *For example, infinite sets behave
very differently than finite sets. *It helps to have
a solid background in math if one truly wants to
go beyond the many mysterious veils that the
Universe has to offer.

It also helps to have a healthy, full awareness of the **fallacy** of
the Primacy of Math fixation. That's the situation where *descriptions
of effects* ('The Math') substitute for _explanations of cause_.
_Mechanism of causation_ is kicked completely out of the picture, and
the 'schematic' or 'blueprint' serves as its surrogate. Disciples of
the Primacy of Math say "The math `IS` the 'big picture'." That's
tantamount to saying the "blueprint is the building" or "the schematic
is the radio."

There was Einstein's famous statement, "remember gentlemen, we have
not proven that the aether does not exist, we have only proven we do
not need it (for mathematical purposes)." Paraphrasing, "space can be
treated mathematically _as if_ it were a void, not that it `is` a
void." The mainstream spun it as the Triumph of Math emancipating
science its old shackles. Thus the Primacy of Math fixation reached
full flower, bequeathing its greatest legacy, the Gift that keeps on
giving, the Void-Space Paradigm. oc