The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences

[Cypress]

Agreed on both points.

The preponderance of evidence indicates that we're the only ones we know about. Likewise, we can either surmise that humans are the only technologically capable, intelligent sentient species in the Universe based upon the preponderance of evidence, or we can surmise we're the only ones we know about.

True, but we have a lot of evidence of Earth and it's history of life, and basically no evidence of alien worlds. So we are warranted in being more certain about our beliefs about Earth.

Agreed about the resilience of more primitive lifeforms, I'm still inclined to the Red Queen hypothesis that intelligence and sentience are the inevitable consequence of species survival for both predator and prey.

That said, due to the vast distances involved and the unlikely probability that life will generate, we might be the only lifeforms in our galaxy. Out of the two trillion+ galaxies in the Universe, that's still a lot of eventual sentient species.

I respect that you put stock in the red Queen hypothesis.

That deals with evolution by natural selection and genetics.

The first hurdle to get over is the origin of life itself. We have made barely any progress in the last 70 years in understanding how biology somehow emerges from inanimate chemistry.

The cockroaches will still be here long after homo sapiens are extinct and gone. So if nature has an ideal blueprint for a successful and resilient species, it doesn't seem to be a bipedal hominid with a large brain.

Agreed on the exceptional rarity of life.

 

[IBDaMann]

Wigner found it miraculous that human-invented math so perfectly mirrors reality,

Does it really matter that Wigner found it miraculous?

Predictive Power: Mathematical theories often possess predictive power,

Math has no predictive power; that's what science has. If you weren't completely scientifically illiterate, you would have called booooooolsch't when you should have.

Scientists don't know why this deep harmony exists,

You should have called booooooolsch't here as well. Wigner only gets to speak for himself, not for any class.

 

[IBDaMann]

True, but we have a lot of evidence of Earth and it's history of life, and basically no evidence of alien worlds. So we are warranted in being more certain about our beliefs about Earth.

Did you just argue that absence of evidence is evidence of absence?

That deals with evolution by natural selection and genetics. The first hurdle to get over is the origin of life itself.

Nope. Origins have nothing to do with evolution.

We have made barely any progress in the last 70 years in understanding how biology somehow emerges from inanimate chemistry.

You are chanting. How life originated from non-life has been a rather straightforward concept for over a century.

I see that you continue to misspell "I" as "We".

The cockroaches will still be here long after homo sapiens are extinct and gone.

You can't be guaranteed of that. You picked the wrong life form.

So if nature has an ideal blueprint for a successful and resilient species, it doesn't seem to be a bipedal hominid with a large brain.

The movie Prometheus addressed this point.

Agreed on the exceptional rarity of life.

You are most certainly in error.

 

[IBDaMann]

Lack of science and math education.

Too funny. Look at the scientifically illiterate moron throwing stones in his glass house.

Lack of intuition to grasp seemingly simple but deceptively complex questions.

You know that you are describing yourself, yes?

 

[Freddy Figbottom]

We don't know how many sentient species have existed on Earth over billions of years. All we know is who has survived. In another billion or so years, some sentient creatures may be wondering if they were the only ones that ever existed.

Note that various tectonic shifts and ice ages may have wiped out previous signs of life. The dinosaurs were wiped out 65M years ago, a relatively short time in the age of the Earth.

Planet Earth Through the Ages - NASA Science

Earth hasn’t always looked the same. Over billions of years, it has gone from orange dot, to a snowball to the blue orb we call home When we talk about "Earth-like" planets, that term can be very different than the world we know today.

science.nasa.gov

is the effectiveness of math rational?

 

[Freddy Figbottom]

So if nature has an ideal blueprint for a successful and resilient species, it doesn't seem to be a bipedal hominid with a large brain.

nature doesn't have an ideal blueprint for life.

nature is substrate for life experiments of all kinds.