
In Search of God’s Perfect Proofs - lelf
https://www.quantamagazine.org/gunter-ziegler-and-martin-aigner-seek-gods-perfect-math-proofs-20180319/
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keiferski
It's a shame that there is such a lack of knowledge on religion and concepts
of god/creator in the modern, Western world, and the widespread assumption
that a simple naive concept of the divine is the only one which can be
true/false. I feel like many mathematicians (including Erdos) would find
Platonism and Neoplatonism relevant and interesting, especially considering
that Platonism is fairly popular with regards to mathematical objects
(famously supported by Gödel.)

[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-
mathematics/](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-mathematics/)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism)

[https://iep.utm.edu/pla-thei/](https://iep.utm.edu/pla-thei/)

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danbruc
I don't think any theory that attempts to divide the world into fundamentally
different realms is viable. Such realms can not be isolated, they must be able
to interact in some way or otherwise one could never know about their
existence. And once one concedes that they must be able to interact, the
distinction between the realms becomes essentially not much more than a
classification, just as we divide life into animals and plants and particles
into bosons and fermions.

And it really does not matter about what kind of realm one thinks - souls,
ghosts, gods, mathematical objects. If those objects can not influence our
physical world directly or indirectly, then you can not know about their
existence in any meaningful way. And the interaction must usually also go both
ways to get a sensible thing, for example your soul must be able to affect
your body but also what your body experiences must affect your soul.

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combatentropy
I think the relationship of programmer to program is a good analogy.

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rafaelvasco
I'm at the same time a very spiritual person and very rational. That's
possible because I wasn't indoctrinated into any religion from an early age,
but started looking by myself what's this life's all about. I think that if we
understand God as the source of every natural mechanism from which everything
comes from and functions, once we look deeply enough even in a grain of sand
we will find it. I think the Creator/God can't be qualified. Once you qualify
God as He, or She, or It, or Benevolent, or Malevolent, it's not God anymore.
As understanding God is impossible for a human mind, people create their own
versions. But this God essence is ingrained in everything that exists,
including us. The mechanisms by which that all happens can't be understood
fully by us in this stage, but we can experience this Force if we look in the
right place and with the right emotion. That appears to be the key, emotion,
not rationality.

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t0mbstone
Yeah, I basically consider the universe itself to be "God". I don't think of
it as something that looks like a man, or something that even necessarily
cares about humans any more than it cares about other life. It just is. It's
the grand summation of all things, and the laws of nature. It is what it is,
and science is the study of getting to know it better.

~~~
keiferski
You would probably like Spinoza, pantheism, and panentheism. Spinoza's concept
of God is really intellectually beautiful.

"I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of
what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of
human beings."

\- Albert Einstein

[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pantheism/](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pantheism/)

[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panentheism/](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panentheism/)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinozism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinozism)

[https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-
standard/spinozas-...](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-
standard/spinozas-god)

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martin_balsam
I studied with Günter Ziegler at FU Berlin and he’s been by far the best
lecturer I’ve ever had. Had a great taste in clarity and beauty in presenting
rigorous proofs.

Just looking at his handwriting in the photos brings back good memories.

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codethief
I went to a talk of him once (I think at Heidelberg University) and can
confirm: He is an outstandingly good speaker.

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melling
The book:

[https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783662495926#otherversion=...](https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783662495926#otherversion=9783662442043)

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felixr
It was available for free until July 31st. Bad timing for this post

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mrwnmonm
I knew their hair will be white :)

