tycho wrote:A question is asked as to why Plato and his tradition emphasized on the learning of mathematics over a long period of time before one is ready, for example for the civic life.
Mathematics is the closest thing we have to a Universal language. An equation is an equation is an equation.
The other condition that Plato/Aristotle and others emphasized is observation as a requirement for validating scientific inquiry. The idea is, if conditions are similar, what you observe and what I observe should be the same.
Quantum mechanics blew both of these notions out of the water by arguing that, while the process of mathematics and observation can be pined down, the results can not - they are dependent on interpretation. Who interprets? The observer. From here making the case that the observer creates the reality he then observes is easy.
And now I am happy to take a break. For the next few days I'll be fully immersed in the political drama we have mounted. See you after the show.
"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." (Niels Bohr)