Within the natural universe exists number that is absolute with or without human creation. However, in many ways number is warped to fit human understanding. Mankind has quantified what is found in the universe, such as the motion of the planets, in order to better understand nature in respect to the human soul (Nicomachus Ch. 3, 6). And though there are aspects of number that remain true outside of human intellect, there are still instances in which the character of number crosses the line from natural to man-made. It is undeniable that number is within the natural universe. However, through humans applying number in ways to better fit their own understandings of the world, it becomes apparent that number exists in the realm of nature as …show more content…
Everything in the tangible universe is described as continuous or discontinuous. Continuous things are in themselves unending, such as a tree itself, or an animal itself, and on a much larger scale, the universe (Nicomachus Ch. 2, 4). Yet, once objects come together in a group and are no longer only within themselves, they become discontinuous, such as a herd of cattle or a bunch of apples. Groups, or discontinuous things, are rightly called multitudes, while continuous things are magnitudes, as they measure themselves, not how many of them there are (Nicomachus Ch. 2, 4). Magnitudes within themselves are separate from human intellect. But once terms such as even, odd, perfect, smaller, bigger, half, and so on, appear the need to create a method for these quantities. These methods are arithmetic, which is of absolute quantity, and music, which is of relative quantity (Nicomachus Ch. 3, 1). There are other sciences which also organize the various quantities, including though not limited to geometry and astronomy, their subjects being about size and those in a state of rest, and that which revolves, respectively (Nicomachus Ch. 3, 2). It is through these methods that mankind bridges the gap between the tangible universe and …show more content…
6, 1), and that is best seen in the concepts of “odd” and “even”. It is undeniable that everything is either even or odd, even can be separated into to equal, whole parts, and odd cannot. These types of number are best seen, though they are of nature, through the scope of man. To elaborate, two things which are called numbers, Three and Four, are man-made. The names Three and Four are not found in nature, though once man has applied these terms, it becomes simpler to call a trio of rocks Three and pairs of trees Four. And odd and even are better seen through this lens because Three cannot be separated into equal, whole parts, as it can only be separated into a group of One and Two, which are unequal. Four, on the other hand, is separated in equal groups of Two and Two. And with the man-made names of Three and Four, which are representative of real numbers, it’s easier to understand which numbers in particular are being discussed. But, even without labelling these things as what are commonly called numbers, whether they Three, Four, Sixteen, or any other of the like, odd and even still exist. An individual human being cannot be separated into equal parts, but the celestial sphere can be cut at the meridian into equal parts. On the small or large scale, without the meddling of humans, odd and even exist in the tangible universe and are
... middle of paper ... ... Everything is basically relative and is what each separate person perceives it to be, just like the answers to the infinite questions posed by The Turn of the Screw. Works Cited Burrows, Stuart.
Throughout history there has always been discussions and theories as to how the universe came to be. Where did it come from? How did it happen? Was it through God that the universe was made? These philosophies have been discussed and rejected and new theories have been created. I will discuss three theories from our studies, Kalam’s Cosmological Argument, Aquinas’s Design Argument, and Paley’s Design Argument. In this article, I will discuss the arguments and what these arguments state as their belief. A common belief from these three theories is that the universe is not infinite, meaning that the universe was created and has a beginning date. Each believe that there was a God, deity, or master creator that created the universe for a reason. They also believe that
My professor told us that we can comprehend God through finite numbers even though he is infinite. I have always wondered how. After reading more of this book I figured out how. Some infinite sets are tremendously larger than others and how Dr. Bessey explains it, he says, “We have already shown that the power set of {1, 2, 3} contains 23 or 8 subsets. Using the general formula, we conclude that the power set of {1, 2, 3, 4} contains 24 or 16 subsets; the power set of {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10} contains 210 or 1,024 subsets; and the power set of {1, 2, 3, 4, . . . , 100} contains 2100 or 1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376 subsets, which is more than one million trillion trillion. Exploring further, we discover that the power set of {1, 2, 3, 4, . . . , 1000} contains 21000 subsets, where 21000 equals a number that has 302 digits! Thus, by means of the power set, any finite set can be used as a stepping-stone to build another, much larger, finite set.” It is so crazy to me to think that we can understand infinity and even eternity by using finite numbers. Not only that but we can understand the eternities by understanding dimensions as
An underlying theme present throughout the series is the possibility that our existence is not the only one. According to current theories in physics, it is entirely possible that our universe is just one of many universes f...
of Gods existence. The factors that go into their views on reason will be compared and accented within this essay. The order of the universe is knowable to Descartes. He proves these by
In addition, the nature of the universe can be also explained when Aquinas mentions that “the property, that the things signified by the words have themselves also a signification.”
Reality as a whole, and the nature of it, continues to be a puzzling point in most areas of study. This quest began after men sought to find the “One” (underlying principle) amidst the “Many” variations of life as a way to explain the world around them. Once can simply categorize “One” and “Many” as “Being” continuity, and “Becoming” change, respectively. There is a natural divide among men on this subject due to their subjective understanding of the world. In this paper, I will propose my theory of “Being”, which is in response to Heraclitus’ opinions of the unity of opposites, and the universe, grounded on the concept of innate potential. The goal of this essay is to present the idea that “Being” and “Becoming” can, and does, occur simultaneously,
Objects nearer to sense are prior and better known to man and the most universal causes are furthest from sense.
The sphere, hanging from a long wire set into the ceiling of the choir, swayed back and forth with isochronal majesty. I knew—but anyone could have sensed it in the magic of that serene breathing—that the period was governed by the square root of the length of the wire and by IT, that number which, however irrational to sublunar minds, through a higher rationality binds the circumference and diameter of all possible circles. The time it took the sphere to swing from end to end was determined by an arcane conspiracy between the most timeless of measures: the singularity of the point of suspension, the duality of the plane’s dimensions, the triadic beginning of ir, the secret quadratic nature of the root, and the unnumbered perfection of the circle
Chapter two of The Universe and the Teacup deals with exponential numbers. More precisely, it deals with the difficulty humans have in processing very large and very small numbers. The term the book uses to describe this difficulty is "number numbness."
bottomless concepts such as infinity. As it turns out there are many different kinds and orders of Hartmann 2 infinity that were documented by George Cantor, who opened up this area of math for the world.
For this exploration, I have decided to focus my research on a subject I find quite interesting and intriguing, and that topic is Graham’s number. The reason I find this topic to be so fascinating is because it’s a very large number. Quite literally. Its size is less than infinity, but the number itself is so large, that if a person tried to imagine it in his/her head, their head would collapse on itself and form a black hole. This is actually not a hyperbole, it’s a fact. It is hard to believe, but it’s a fact. This number is so huge, that if all matter in the universe becomes paper and ink, it still wouldn’t be enough to write all of the number down. That’s why I like this topic (Graham’s Number, Numberphile).
Fractal Geometry The world of mathematics usually tends to be thought of as abstract. Complex and imaginary numbers, real numbers, logarithms, functions, some tangible and others imperceivable. But these abstract numbers, simply symbols that conjure an image, a quantity, in our mind, and complex equations, take on a new meaning with fractals - a concrete one. Fractals go from being very simple equations on a piece of paper to colorful, extraordinary images, and most of all, offer an explanation to things. The importance of fractal geometry is that it provides an answer, a comprehension, to nature, the world, and the universe.
However, it is notoriously difficult to say what an ever-changing universe has to do with an unchanging Reality. Additionally, the contingent world we know is morally and aesthetically imperfect, to say the least. It follows that Reality, by contrast, must be supremely good and beautiful. This strand goes right back to Plato, and the idea that there exists a world that is more ‘real’ and more ‘true’ and the ‘so-called’ real world we inhabit in our embodied state. This is the world of the perfect Forms, but their relation to the particulars of which they are the Forms is difficult to describe adequately. How can two things that have absolutely nothing in common be related to each other in any way
The history of math has become an important study, from ancient to modern times it has been fundamental to advances in science, engineering, and philosophy. Mathematics started with counting. In Babylonia mathematics developed from 2000B.C. A place value notation system had evolved over a lengthy time with a number base of 60. Number problems were studied from at least 1700B.C. Systems of linear equations were studied in the context of solving number problems.