God Created the Real Numbers

13 days ago

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16th Century Italy debated whether science relates only to divine (natural) knowledge, while art pertains to human-made creations.
Leopold Kronecker's quote, 'God made the integers; all else is the work of man,' is examined in the context of divine vs. human creation.
The integers are seen as human abstractions, while the real numbers reflect the complexity and strangeness of divine or natural creation.
A rule of thumb is proposed: if something causes existential nausea or disorientation, it is divine; if it feels simple and universal, it is human-made.
Human creations, like the triangle choke in martial arts, emerge from both human ideas and pre-existing natural structures.
A hierarchy of creation is suggested: eternal nature → nature → humans → human ideas, with increasing 'weirdness' closer to eternal nature.
Kronecker's quote is interpreted as a critique of infinity, targeting Georg Cantor's work on transfinite numbers.
Cantor's ideas sparked theological debates, suggesting that reasoning about infinity might allow reasoning about God.
Descartes' Trademark Argument and Chesterton's view on mysticism are contrasted in their approaches to understanding the divine.
The essay concludes without a definitive conclusion, leaving the ideas as a 'vibes-based meandering.'

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