Math is what happens when you take your original working predictive toolkit (like counting sheep) and let it run on human wetware disconnected from its original goal of having to predict observables.
That’s an interesting problem. Do we have math because we make abstractions about the multitude of things around us, or must we already have some idea of math in the abstract just to recognize the multitude as a multitude? But I think I agree with the gist of what you’re saying.
Just like I think of language as meta-grunting, I think of math as meta-counting. Some animals can count, and possibly add and subtract a bit, but abstracting it away from the application for the fun of it is what humans do.
That’s an interesting problem. Do we have math because we make abstractions about the multitude of things around us, or must we already have some idea of math in the abstract just to recognize the multitude as a multitude? But I think I agree with the gist of what you’re saying.
Just like I think of language as meta-grunting, I think of math as meta-counting. Some animals can count, and possibly add and subtract a bit, but abstracting it away from the application for the fun of it is what humans do.