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PeterWhittaker 17 hours ago [-]
But rivers have been mathematical for only something less than ~60 years, no? Mandelbrot's paper on the length of the coastline of Albion was in the mid 60s or so, and the math that made rivers mathematical (fractals, chaos theory) came after that (within my lifetime!).
Rivers are mathematical only because we have so improved our mathematics in recent times (when my parents were born, they were random and non-deterministic, mysterious).
ssalka 21 hours ago [-]
Rivers form fractal shapes just like how Iterated Function Systems[1] and L-systems[2] form: by simple branching, carried out at varying levels of scale. A gentle reminder that fractals are nature's favorite building block.
Mathematical axioms are derived from sensory experience in this physical reality
The math is actually river-like
rcxdude 18 hours ago [-]
It's not obvious that either way should work.
metalman 4 hours ago [-]
or: rivers obey physics with * absolute perfection, and "math" is a clumsy human constructed aproximation of certain conditions that will create a 2 dimensional image of something "river-like" but remain unconvincing to fish.
* humans are still unsure of exactly how much detail reality contains, or even if it's a constant, but we can be sure that all observable natural phenominon adhear to the laws of nature at the finest level that exists, and so in another article about "electric rain" it is shown that each drop of water in a cloud has a charge and can be considered as a physical component of lightning, and if left undischarged goes on to corrode cars, or interact in unknown ways as it becomes part of a river, to which I suggest getting some much higher, much bigger math to figure it out. Or ask a fish.
Rivers are mathematical only because we have so improved our mathematics in recent times (when my parents were born, they were random and non-deterministic, mysterious).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iterated_function_system
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-system
Mathematical axioms are derived from sensory experience in this physical reality
The math is actually river-like
* humans are still unsure of exactly how much detail reality contains, or even if it's a constant, but we can be sure that all observable natural phenominon adhear to the laws of nature at the finest level that exists, and so in another article about "electric rain" it is shown that each drop of water in a cloud has a charge and can be considered as a physical component of lightning, and if left undischarged goes on to corrode cars, or interact in unknown ways as it becomes part of a river, to which I suggest getting some much higher, much bigger math to figure it out. Or ask a fish.