Mathematics – the Imperfect Language of the Universe [UPDATED 2020]

“Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe” ― Galileo Galilei.

Have you heard this famous quote about God speaking through the universe via the language of mathematics?

Galileo was a smart man.

Writing about the flaws of science in the age of fake news is like walking on eggshells.
It is a far more comfortable challenge when it finds support in a public interview statement from the celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Mathematics, God, and the Universe: The Problem with Scientific Bias

“We give great value not only to the methods and the tools of science but also to the language of the universe we call mathematics.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson.

In 2010, DeGrasse-Tyson was a guest at the Stephen Colbert’s informal interview-lecture at Montclair Kimberley Academy.

While chatting with the host, he used the words of the Nobel-prize winning mathematician  Eugene Wigner to bring us closer to the specific bias of the scientific logic:

““Having in mind that it is a product made in our heads, mathematics has inexplicably large usefulness in the universe. We haven’t discovered mathematics under a rock. It is a pure mental fabrication, and yet, it provides us with accurate predictive descriptions and explanations about the universe.”

Neil considers mathematics and physics the essential elements of the language of the universe. The majority of academia agrees that these two disciplines make the backbone of science. 

However, while interpreting phenomena and events through this language, we forget about scientific bias. 

To step out of established thinking lines and discover new planes, we mustn’t forget that nothing is perfect. Here is what isn’t as ideal as we speak:

• The universe 
• The scientific method
• Mathematics

Not even God is perfect.

Math Problems: The Self-limiting Rules of Science

You can create a perfect illustration of the limiting frame of a single scientific language by spinning the phrase “thinking out of the box” into “thinking out of mathematics.”

As DeGrasse-Tyson explains, there is a problem with the outcome of a one-directional interpretation of the universe. 

What is the problem with getting too comfortable in the established language of the universe?

• Getting accustomed to dismissing our innate senses we possessed as children, to investigate and discover new things. 
• Filtrating every unique insight through already digested knowledge. 
• Making hypotheses and generating assumptions based on “how things should be” and “have always been.”

In this way, you conclude “how things could be.”

You damage the childlike curiosity in the mind of a fully grown adult.    

The Language of Mathematics and the Language of Music

At this point, Tyson cuts it short. 

• 

He remembers the libretto of the Broadway musical “Phantom of the opera” and showcases his love of another phenomenal language. 

That is the language of mathematical music that finds its base in numbers. 

“Leave your senses – this is a replica from the musical,” he says and adds:” One day, perhaps in another life, I too, would love to write texts for Broadway musicals…”

Math and music together aren’t perfect, as well. But they can bring you closer to magic and God. We are still imperfect in our efforts to explain the perfection of life itself, regardless of the plethora of languages we have at our disposal.

In the age of high polarization, you can only benefit from being a healthy skeptic and peeking toward newness and freshness of thought.