Yixia Gu response to AOK: Mathematics "Is Mathematics the Grand Design of the Universe?"

Herd of Elephants:
Maths is an abstraction. Yet from these abstractions, we are able to draw conclusions from the facts presented. When we count things, we are already subconsciously doing calculations such as 1+2=3. Compared to science which is a social construct which needs to be tested against external reality, Math can be applied and is compulsory in obscure subjects such as Physics. However, in Biology, mathematics plays a less fundamental role because of the complex arrangement of matter which is described. Because science is a social construct, many scientists can only determine whether they agree with each other and whether what they have observed is consistent with their theories. Nevertheless, there is maths all around us is it just that the calculations are too complicated for us to comprehend. Thus, I am able to conclude that Maths can be practical and quite important, because with Quantum Theory of a structure of a crystal for example was founded based on their mathematical patterns, later called atomic lattices.

Lottery illusion:
If you look closely at the Nature around us, every tree and shrub, we can find plenty of things which fit Mathematical patterns. One example is of the number of petals on a flower which can be calculated with the Fibonacci sequence. And indeed, evolution has encouraged this type of pattern. Yet, what we see and how we interpret these patterns and detecting them may have just been Mathematics put to work as an instrument of understanding nature. So is the supposed sequence in lottery numbers merely an illusion? Perhaps, we may have just imagined these patterns because they are already imprinted within us. The human mind could not have plainly invented these ideas, or come up with pattern seeking in Lotteries, so as Stewart explains, it must have evolved due to the mathematical element in the Universe.