Numbers don't actually exist ?

Question

I've thinking about how much I hate math and stuff..and I just realized that math is really the most pointless thing anyone can study cause numbers have nothing to do with real life. Numbers are a human concept. without humans there would be no numbers since nature does not need numbers. nature has no use for numbers. only silly humans use numbers. anywayz...who else think that numbers do not really exist?

Answer 1

Number makes everything easier.

But yeah, I hate math too. They are only for nerds and squares. (Hehe, look who's talking)

Answer 2

using that philosophy words don't exist

do you hate english class?

Answer 3

Whatever you are smoking, I'll take some.

Answer 4

every single thing you study has no "meaning".

Answer 5

The same can be sound about words.

Answer 6

mathematics is the universal language.  you are surrounded by numbers in this the real world.

Answer 7

If you were better with numbers, you would understand why I think that you are the number one lunatic I have thusfar encountered on Yahoo! Answers.

Answer 8

You're right... I wish there was no numbers so I wouldn't have to take algerba and other hard stuff like that..

Answer 9

number exist in the abstract level. it's a way to understand the world. the beauty of mathematics is you can map between physical world where it is meaningful, to the world of math. for example, 1+1=2 can be interpreted as meaningless string no more meaningful than 2J2n&, however, if you map 1 or the first symbol as apple, each for each of the symbols, then math and its rules becomes meaningful and useful tool. engineers use a lot of math to built the computer that you are using right now.

other answerer have used language as a excellent example.

Answer 10

Of course they do. If there were no numbers there would be no internet or no yahoo answers since you wouldnt be able to program stuff.

Answer 11

Yeah its like man-made. Like buildings are man-made, not nature-made. Its just like poverty, it's mad-made.

Okay I'm confusing myself abit

I'll stop (:

hehe

Answer 12

Okay, so you wake in the middle of the night.  It might be tonite.  And it's dark and you look around and you see your LED alarm clock and the numbers are moving around, out of sync; independently.  And you can't read them to tell the time, because you had a dream just now that Morpheus came to you and said, "Pick the red pill for numbers, and pick  the white one for no numbers."  And he says, there are no such thing as numbers, anyway.  It's in your mind.  He shows you the window and he says, "can you prove to me we are not standing 1000 feet above street level."  And he says, "if you jump, you will not die.  You will be a number when you land and you will be a number if you just take the white pill, and not jump, go home and forget all that I showed you."

Okay, so now you're back.  You look at the gosh darn clock and it makes no sense at all.  What is that?  An upside down lower case h.  Something that looks like a Greek omega.  So the numbers were there all the time.  You didn't know what, what.  Can you will you ever be able to isolate your demons?

Are numbers the same things as numerals?  And who is going to pay for the gosh darn bubble wrap.  LOL  Our days are numbered.  Baseball, ugh, sports uses numbers, stats, ID's on the backs of Jerseys.  You know all those numbers you had to fill in when you were in fourth grade, and anxiously awaited the advent of exponents, lol?  The whole enchilada, they say.  Numbers are, without  reservations, our saving grace.  So use numbers, be silly, go to math class, take along ONE piece of, one tiny minuscule, 'bit' of information, for your own.  Score it 1 to 10, on 1 being most important and 10 being trivial.  Don't look at me, I didn't choose it...this is for you.  Yes, and I know that proofs and square roots are essentially repulsive.  Go from there, climb the ladder and at the top, write, "Glad I know this".

Answer 13

What actually do numbers mean?

Its a way of counting, but other than that I don't know.

Good question.

Again what is numbers?

Answer 14

So by your logic, language doesn't exist either. But you're using language to ask who believes that numbers (a subset of, or creation of our language) doesn't exist.  What a quandry!

Answer 15

NOTHING EXISTS.

get over it.

just do what you have to do to survive and its all good.

Answer 16

Well without numbers money doesn't exist.

Answer 17

Math is a language. You could say the same thing about the words we speak...without humans they have no meaning. The fact that you were able to use a computer and communicate your hatred of math could only be done because of math. Math communicates many real things and allows us to understand things we wouldn't normally be able to.

Math can be very frustrating for many people because many times it is presented as a process and the how, what and why are left out of the lesson. I also think that there are parts in the brain that develop right about age 13 to 15 that make it easier for a person to "get" math concepts as taught in school.

Don't give up on math...it may be frustrating, but it is very useful in so many ways.

Answer 18

numbers and words don't exist.  we use them as tools to communicate and model the world, to approximate or simulate it so we can connect with others.  i think if you have $10 you will want the clerk to think that numbers exist and sell you something that costs $10 and not just $1 so when it comes to money, numbers that we agree on have a lot of relevance.  when your employer pays you wages for your work, you want the number to be what you agreed on, not something unrelated.  you're right, only humans need numbers.  like room numbers to find the room in a building.  social security numbers to access the money we've contributed.  bank account numbers to keep ourmoney separae from others.  you want 110 volts coming to your outlet.  you want 12 volts on the battery in your car or it won't start.  humans need numbers.  i mean what grade are you in?  8th grade?  does the number matter?  how old are you?  16?  when can you vote or drink?

Answer 19

Wrong, which explains your problem with math.

Answer 20

numbers are needed because lets say there were 7 birds you saw and you wanted to tell someone. if you could not say 7 you but you wanted ther person to know exactly how many birds you saw you would have to say there was a bird and a bird and a bird and a bird and a bird and a bird and a bird. numbers do exist because they are quantities. if we had not assigned symbols and names to them, they would still be quantities

Answer 21

My husband really likes this idea. The cat has no concept of 2. If he sees 2 birds he thinks there are birds, and decides what to do after that. Words are irrelevant without humans. A monkey doesn't know blue unless you teach him about the color blue. Labels and numbers are meaningless in nature.

Answer 22

Numbers have nothing to do with real life? Are you kidding. Numbers are everywhere. There is a certain number that dictates how every living thing is formed, it's call the divine number. Every looked at a honeycomb, tons of geometry that the bees that build them keep internally in their instincts.

Please look around you and realize that the world is all about numbers.

Answer 23

Nature has no use for numbers?  Numbers are everywhere in nature.  Ratios, the Fibonacci sequence, they are represented everywhere in nature.  Nature is so beautiful because they follow a set of rules that can only be represented by numbers.  Everywhere you look, there are numbers.  Check it out.