Wahoo someone who speaks my language! What is your stance on God and creationism, R-pi?
I cannot say that i believe in any god or creationism. I am a mathematician above all else. I simply need proof. what i have, though, is a profound respect for nature and reality. science and religion are simply two mutually exclusive sets. faith just isn't science. nor is science faith.
again, you could argue that the scientist has "faith" that his theory is correct, but in essence, science is doubt, not faith.
The scientist exists because he doubts his predecessors.
As a mathematician, however, i deal with perfection. a theorem, once proven, is proven forever.
numerous quotes could be attributed to mathematicians who had profound connections with their god, and this is understandable.
Einstein was pantheistic (if anything) and believed in determinism (hence his quote "god does not play dice," meaning the universe is not left to chance, i.e. he believed in an underlying order)
Paul erdos did not believe in god, but believed in something he called "THE BOOK" which was the collection of all theorems in their most beautiful, perfect form, which only god possessed. he said "you don't need to believe in god, but at least believe in THE BOOK"
Ramanujan, one of the most ingenious and prolific mathematicians who ever lived, believed he received flashes of insight from his family god, the goddess Namigiri. He is attributed with saying "an equation means nothing to me unless it expresses a thought of god"
for the mathematician, when we put pen to paper, we alone transcribe the very thoughts of god. we speak the language of the universe, of reality. it truly is so beautiful.
but, if mathematics is not discovered, but made, are we ourselves not gods then for creating a language that governs reality?
I am a fellow mathematician. I find that God communicates a lot to me through concepts I find in mathematics. It is truly beautiful. I have not run into any difficulties reconciling my faith in the God of the bible with science. I believe that mathematics, like science, is man discovering what God has made. He has made the underlying principles and logic behind mathematics, and that makes Him truly amazing and worthy of praise and honour and glory.
specifically, what do you concentrate in? i love meeting fellow mathematicians. in addition to mathematical physics, i do research in combinatorial analysis, graph theory, and infinite series.