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Originally Posted by asaris
No one invented language, it simply arose out of changes in the human condition.
Science is, I think, a different sort of thing from mathematics. Math really does describe the way the world is. Science may or may not. There are lots of disputes about this, and I'm no philosopher of science. But the position that science is nothing more than a useful predictive heuristic is a reasonable one to hold; I don't think that, at the end of the day, such a position can be maintained with respect to math.
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I disagree, I think people did invent language, it just took a long time and no one person can be described as the singular inventor. Inventions don't have to be confined to physical or technological things. When scientists use gene splicing or similar techniques to change the physical attributes of an organism, for example the sturdiness of a tomato, is that a discovery or an invention. I would call it an invention.
From Dictionary.com
in·ven·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-vnshn) n.
The act or process of inventing: used a technique of her own invention.
A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation: the phonograph, an invention attributed to Thomas Edison.
A mental fabrication, especially a falsehood.
Skill in inventing; inventiveness: “the invention and sweep of the staging” (John Simon).
Music. A short composition developing a single theme contrapuntally.
A discovery; a finding.
dis·cov·er·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-skv-r)
n. pl. dis·cov·er·ies
The act or an instance of discovering.
Something discovered.
Law. The compulsory disclosure of pertinent facts or documents to the opposing party in a civil action, usually before a trial begins.
dis·cov·er ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-skvr)
tr.v. dis·cov·ered, dis·cov·er·ing, dis·cov·ers
To notice or learn, especially by making an effort: got home and discovered that the furnace wasn't working.
To be the first, or the first of one's group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe.
To learn about for the first time in one's experience: discovered a new restaurant on the west side.
To learn something about
: discovered him to be an impostor; discovered the brake to be defective.
To identify (a person) as a potentially prominent performer: a movie star who was discovered in a drugstore by a producer.
Archaic. To reveal or expose.
Clearly the two words have some overlap, so that's probably where the confusion is coming from. But I also disagree that math really does describe the way the world is. Math describes the way we see the world. We see a sphere and treat it as such. But spheres don't exist as individual things in the real world, the only reason it's a sphere is because we call it such. Math is a subjective approach to reality. A single sphere to you might be a collection of one thousand carbon atoms to another. There are many ways of looking at things, not just ours.
And I don't think science is a description of the world, or a predictive method. I think it is a method for determining knowledge, a process exemplified by the Scientific Method (hypothesis, experimentation, observation...) Science is always changing as more accurate information becomes available.
And so what if this discussion is semantic? Does that somehow make it unworthy? The determination of meaning and changes in meaning is important if we want to communicate with each other. If we never addressed semantic issues and instead operated with our own individual ideas about language we'd have great difficulty communicating. Perhaps if you tried to order a cheeseburger you'd get crucified upside-down instead if we all ignored semantics.