[r9etb]

I’d love to hear any arguments for why mathematics should not be given a higher seat in our body of knowledge than science!

I guess the real question still centers about the nature of the "unreasonable effectiveness of math." Yes, math does seem to describe things unusually well.

But is that because math is in some sense intrinsically descriptive of the universe? Or is it the more like "Junkyard Wars" teams hunting around in a junk-pile for likely-looking parts? (I.e., I have an idea, and here's somebody's esoteric math thing that looks handy in describing it?)

I guess another way of putting it is: is math invented, or is it discovered?

[general_re]

I guess another way of putting it is: is math invented, or is it discovered?

I used to ask my math professors that exact same question. The answers were quite interesting.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so very much for your excellent post, r9etb!

I guess another way of putting it is: is math invented, or is it discovered?

So very true.

The "unreasonable effectiveness of math" is most evident in physics - dualities, mirror symmetries - and my personal favorite, Einstein's being able to pull Reimannian geometry "off the shelf" to describe relativity. For me, it is breath-taking.