Monday, 14 March 2016

IS GOD A MATHEMATICIAN?-1

Shiv Shankar Daily's photo.

IS GOD A MATHEMATICIAN?-1
Is mathematics an invention or a discovery? Some would say that mathematics is a human endeavour and hence entirely a product of the human mind. All mathematical formulations are mental constructs and as such should be treated as an invention. But think again. The universe follows mathematical laws. Planetary motions, gravity, force, light, sub atomic particles all follow a mathematical pattern. And nature is not man made. In fact we too are nature. If nature has been put together mathematically and we come up with equations which describe that mathematical reality, then isn’t it a discovery? There’s no denying the fact that an intelligent design is evident in the fabric of the cosmos. A mathematical design you may say. Even if the entire human race becomes extinct, the mathematical laws would still hold. The mathematical truth of E=mc² is eternal and existed even before Einstein was born though he revealed it to us. Likewise gravitational laws existed before Newton.
When we reason and make observations, we find that order appears to emerge spontaneously in all nature and complexity arises in such ways and variety that some form of intelligence guiding such processes appears to be undeniable. However, some people refute this view saying that there is no need to bring in god to explain intelligence and they cite the instance of computers and Artificial Intelligence which have been created by humans. But I would like to point out, that even if we succeed in building a perfect computer that "thinks" like a human being or emulates human thought (the computer programme Deep Blue has already defeated chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov), we should never forget that an "intelligent design" is involved behind that creation. We ourselves are that "intelligent designer". This would in fact raise the devastating question of how did our intelligence come into being? If we are the source of Artificial Intelligence, where lies our source?
Mathematics is very much in evidence in nature. There are 23 chromosomes in our body. Not 22, not 24 or any other random number. A primitive, savage man who hadn't started counting, who didn't know what numbers are still had those 23 chromosomes. The exact number 23! THAT fascinates me! Again each element having an atomic number. Hydrogen-1; Helium-2 and so on. Just a change in the mathematical structure of the atoms and the result is a variety of forms. This mathematical structure, this intelligent design is what I'm talking about. And the laws of the universe. Their precision, their clockwork regularity – no randomness, no chaos. Whatever the truth of god is, the truth of the mathematical nature of the universe is not under dispute.
Om Namah Shivay

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