>>13143582>>13143593>math is just a computer program. no one "discovered" the windows operating system any more than they "discovered" algebra.We pretty much agree on this point but you're getting the terminology backwards. By probablistic considerations, I am sure that nobody in the history of the Earth has ever done the following multiplication:
> 9306781264124585423 x 39204667122145673 = ?Then if I compute it, am I inventing it's value, or discovering the value? The meaning of the word "invent" and "discover" are a little unclear, but usually one says discover when there are certain properties: does the value have independent unique qualities that we know ahead of time (like being odd)? Is it possible to get two different answers and consider both correct? etc.
In this case, everyone would agree the value is discovered, since we actually can do the computation, and not a single (sane) person thinks that the answer is made up nonsense, or that it wouldn't be the number of boxes in the rectangle with appropriate sides, etc.
