Another thing way to look at this idea of math being a tool that exists only in the mind has occurred to me:
Does addition happen outside the mind? What is something “plus” something else? If we’ve got a quantity of two sheep, and a quantity of three sheep, and they’re standing next to each other, then we can consider the two quantities together, and count five sheep. But let’s say a quantity of two sheep wander through a meadow until they come across a quantity of three sheep, and then stop. Where did the actual addition happen? Outside the mind, there are only quantities.
Another thing way to look at this idea of math being a tool that exists only in the mind has occurred to me:
Does addition happen outside the mind? What is something “plus” something else? If we’ve got a quantity of two sheep, and a quantity of three sheep, and they’re standing next to each other, then we can consider the two quantities together, and count five sheep. But let’s say a quantity of two sheep wander through a meadow until they come across a quantity of three sheep, and then stop. Where did the actual addition happen? Outside the mind, there are only quantities.