Category Archives: Philosophical

Q: How do I estimate the probability that God exists?

Mathematician: Before jumping into this question, it is important to realize that probabilities are not objective, observer independent quantities. We can think of the claim that a particular outcome will happen with a probability of 0.30 as meaning (loosely speaking) … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Philosophical, Probability, Skepticism | 36 Comments

Q: Is there a single equation that proves black holes are real?

Physicist: Nope! Using general relativity (which has plenty of equations), and a little borrowed knowledge from other fields (to describe star collapse), you can show that black holes should exist.  But unfortunately there are no proofs in physics, just experimental … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Philosophical, Physics | 11 Comments

Q: How do I find the love of my life? (a Mathematician’s perspective)

Mathematician: The Physicist and I were once asked “how do I find the love of my life?”. Never ones to shy away from applying math to love (or anything else), the Physicist gave his take on this question (noting the … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Biology, Equations, Philosophical, Probability | 24 Comments

Q: What is the entropy of nothing?

Mathematician: In physics, entropy relates to the number of states that a system can be in. If a system actually contained absolutely nothing, then (quantum mechanical considerations aside), it would only have one state, and therefore would have 0 entropy … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Entropy/Information, Philosophical | 9 Comments

Q: How many mathematicians/physicists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Mathematician: Theorem (Bulb Screwing) It only takes one mathematician to screw in a light bulb. Proof: Let the “bulb screwing number” of a profession , be the minimum number of people of profession that must be assembled to screw in … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, -- By the Physicist, Brain Teaser, Philosophical | 23 Comments

Q: How does a scientist turn ideas into math?

The original question was: How does a scientist/physicist map ideas and concepts into/onto mathematics?  Are there a sequence of steps?  If one starts with a mathematical model I can sort of see how using deduction, induction etc…. And what about … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Math, Philosophical | 13 Comments