[ExI] Gemini on Mathematical Realism

[Jason Resch]

On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 3:38 PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> On Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 2:41 PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> On 08/10/2026 12:52, Jason Resch wrote:
>> > I don't buy it. How can one finite act, by finite beings, in a finite
>> universe, create infinite properties?
>>
>> Doesn't the invention of real numbers create this situation?
>>
>
> Someone, somewhere, was the first to create what is now known as Arabic
> numbers, with base 10 representation and no limit placed on how long the
> number could be.  The numbering system thus created had infinite
> possibilities, though any specific expression - a specific instance of a
> specific number - requires a discrete finite act to create.
>

Sometime, somewhere, there was absolutely nothing. It was total
non-existence. You could say it was God's expression of the number 0 -- the
number of things in reality.
The number "0" was thus born.
But now there was a number in existence, the 1 number representing the
things present reality. The number "1" was born.
Now "0" and "1" existed as the *two* numbers alone in reality. "2" was
born. Etc.

If a mathematician writing down "0" on a chalk board is enough to introduce
infinite numbers and properties of 0, why doesn't it start with the first
physical incarnation of a number? Does it have to be calcium carbonate on
slate, or could a single particle represent a number? And if 1 particle
could represent "1", couldn't zero particles represent "0"?

Jason
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