Why is 2+2=4? This sounds silly, but why should 2+2 be 4. Cant it be 5 or 6 or a or b?
I have failed to understand why is 2+2=4. Is it a convention or something scientific or something absolute? Its strange to question if the answer 4 for 2+2 is scientifically proven or not. Of course, this throws cascading questions like what is scientific and what is science?
Mathematics is known as the queen of all sciences and physics being the king of all sciences has to follow the queen. So the entire structure of scientific thinking rests on this pair.
Now questioning the rationality the above simple equation(2+2=4) sounds irrational at the outset. But read on, it may not be so irrational.
Many a time i get a strange feeling that these are conventions. It may be true. We just call 4 the result of the operation 2+2. We may as well call it 5 or 6or whatever we feel.
For a moment let us assume;
2+2=6......................................1
=>2=6-2....................................2
If 2+2=6, then 2x2=6.....................................3
=>2=(6/2)
Therefore (6/2)=(6-2)...................4
Therefore 6=(6-2)x2
i.e. 6=(6x2)-(2x2)
Therefore 6= 18-6......................5 (Because, 2+2=6; 6x2=18)
Find out if equation 5 is correct.
There is no message or inference from these equations. But its only an attempt to know whether the mathematics we know is based upon some underlying convention/assumption or its a branch of knowledge which is absolute.
This question stems from digits. We know of numbers 1,2 , 5 ,100 etc. But we cannot define any number without a reference or an objects. For example, number 4 does not have a meaning in isolation. 4 has to be with a reference such as 4th place, 4 bananas, 4 boys etc. As such 4 does not convey anything nor can 4 exist in isolation.
So 4 is a tool to convey the quantity of something(Bananas). So 4 cannot be absolute so 2+2 cannot be absolute. But Banana can be absolute.
Mind you i am only saying "Can be" .
I have failed to understand why is 2+2=4. Is it a convention or something scientific or something absolute? Its strange to question if the answer 4 for 2+2 is scientifically proven or not. Of course, this throws cascading questions like what is scientific and what is science?
Mathematics is known as the queen of all sciences and physics being the king of all sciences has to follow the queen. So the entire structure of scientific thinking rests on this pair.
Now questioning the rationality the above simple equation(2+2=4) sounds irrational at the outset. But read on, it may not be so irrational.
Many a time i get a strange feeling that these are conventions. It may be true. We just call 4 the result of the operation 2+2. We may as well call it 5 or 6or whatever we feel.
For a moment let us assume;
2+2=6......................................1
=>2=6-2....................................2
If 2+2=6, then 2x2=6.....................................3
=>2=(6/2)
Therefore (6/2)=(6-2)...................4
Therefore 6=(6-2)x2
i.e. 6=(6x2)-(2x2)
Therefore 6= 18-6......................5 (Because, 2+2=6; 6x2=18)
Find out if equation 5 is correct.
There is no message or inference from these equations. But its only an attempt to know whether the mathematics we know is based upon some underlying convention/assumption or its a branch of knowledge which is absolute.
This question stems from digits. We know of numbers 1,2 , 5 ,100 etc. But we cannot define any number without a reference or an objects. For example, number 4 does not have a meaning in isolation. 4 has to be with a reference such as 4th place, 4 bananas, 4 boys etc. As such 4 does not convey anything nor can 4 exist in isolation.
So 4 is a tool to convey the quantity of something(Bananas). So 4 cannot be absolute so 2+2 cannot be absolute. But Banana can be absolute.
Mind you i am only saying "Can be" .
I myself gave a thought about this..but was not a blogger back then...
ReplyDeleteNumbers as such evolved from one-one association of things... like 1 tree is different from another tree. From this came more group based properties which seperated different types of trees...while still maintaining tat one-one relation.
Over the course of many centuries...we have the number system that we cannot survive without.
I think what you are referring to is the convention of expressing numbers... the notation and the symbols for example and yes... no one has a definitive answer of how that got evolved.
But in nature its evident, for example even without a numbering system a mother is able to make out if one or more of its chicks/cubs etc is missing.