Math and Mysticism

The "rules" or natural laws that govern the universe are neither bad nor good in the first place. Ultimately meaning is introduced by sentient beings, and it is our decision - in fact our emotions - that determine whether something is good or bad. And even here it is difficult to reach a consensus. For me, killing an animal to still your hunger is neutral. Killing an animal as a sport is evil. But many will contest this opinion of mine. And there is a myriad of similar cases. But why would Mathematics be in any way spiritually relevant? Mathematics is a useful tool to describe natural phenomena - but by no means all naturall phenomena. Many observed phenomena cannot be described using analytical mathematics (in some cases only numerical modelling provides a viable albeit crude alternative). At the same time many mathematical solutions have nothing to do with the real world - they are merely abstractions born out of themselves, so to say. A scientific modell of the world - based upon mathematical methods - is just that: a model. It does represent a portion of reality, similar to the way a map represents a landscape. It may be fascinating, but I see no deeper spiritual meaning there. For me as a scientist Math is a toolbox. A very sophisticated and intricate toolbox, but just a toolbox. Math is not necessarily logics - in synergetics (better known as chaos theory) and fuzzy "logics" many of the common interpretations of classical aristotelian logics are thrown over board. Getting deep into the far out fields of topological manyfolds, dynamic systems and math as applied to high energy Physics actually can cause otherwise sane minds to tilt. This is what happened to Kurt Gödel, arguably one of the greatest heads of history. What pushed him out of balance was his famous incompleteness theorem: That Mathematics can never completely prove itself. But of course - Math WORKS most of the time. There is magic to a certain extend as well - and certainly beauty. And certain forms and structures that can be described mathematically DO reoccur thoughout nature. It is all rather fascinating. I only think that without necessity Math should not be mixed with numerology. The essence of Art is to find the balance between the complex and the simple - in fact to find the simple in the complex and vice versa. In terms of ideology one must be careful. More often than not simplified ideologies have caused extreme suffering and unjust. Maybe it is also true that Einstein in fact really just referred to Physics, where the saying is both: true and easily definable. Mathematics - by its very definition - is fully in the realm of reason (though not necessarily logics). In fact Mathematics is the pivotal essence of human intellectual endeavors. Spirituality on the other hand is not even clearly definable using mere categories of reason. This is not to rule out that there may be a connection that is as yet undiscovered. But if spirituality could be grasped in mathematical terms, would it still be spirituality? Or would it be mere science? I have two problems with the complete union of Math and Mysticism. The one is professional: As a trained Astronomer I do not see the connection. Instead I see the incompleteness of the mathematical method - although it is an extremely powerful tool. As a Mystic, I feel that it would be an ice cold world, if it turned out to be true, that everything had a purely logical explanation. This is a contradiction in my character - that much admitted. If - like Galileo said - Mathematics would be the language, in which God describes the world, the world (universe) would be a little bit too similar to a computer simulation. For my taste at least. But on the other hand: maybe nothing is what it seems... Yet I have to say that scientific theory building (for which mathematics is the preferred language) is all about absolute precision. Let me quote Richard Feynman here (actually it is a re-translation from German): Let me say one thing with absolute clarity: A vague theory is always difficult to disprove. If its assumption is incomplete and vaguely formulated and the calculation methods it uses also are somewhat uncertain, than you are not absolutely sure, and you say: "Yes - I do think that it is correct, since it all is based upon this and that which more or less behaves like this and that, and I can approximately explain how the whole thing is working..." (Feynman in his Cornell lecture "The Character of Physical Law"). This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn more about the very nature of science and math. Our understanding does go quite far. But we also know limitations. In many cases we have mathematical functions that appear to have the character of natural laws, yet they are only statistical assumptions. In Biology for example we can make good calculations about the reproduction rate of viruses in organism, yet the infection of a single bacterium with a single virus is an entirely un-mathematical process. The same is true, to use another common example, for radioactive Decay. If we look at a large number of free Neutrons, we can say that the half-lifetime of these Neutrons on average is 10.8 minutes. With astonishing precision can we predict that after 10.8 minutes half of the Neutrons will have turned into protons. At the same time, if we look at a single individual Neutron, we suddenly are completely unable to make any valid statement about its lifetime. It may decay just immediately - or it may still be around when every nuclear fire in the entire universe is about to die out. Chaos reins, and statistics is a branch of mathematics that helps providing us with some peace of mind. If you think about the uncertainty principle, you also realize that in quantum mechanics some of our most advanced research arrived at a point where mathematics fails to describe nature accurately, and it seems that this is not a result of missing knowledge or hidden variables but instead the very nature of nature herself: Uncertainty. Chaos. One thing be admitted: it is absolutely true that in some future science new solutions and answers will be discovered about which as yet we know nothing. But, since we know nothing about it, we also cannot make any valid statements related to it. That would be akin to a religious believer stating: We do not know how this or that came about, therefore it was created, initiated etc. by God. Life itself certainly so far escapes the grasp of mathematics. Mathematics on the other hand can be a formidable form of MEDITATION! ;-).