I know there's something called "ultrafinitism" which is a very radical form of constructivism that I've heard said means people don't believe that really large integers actually exist. Could someone make this a little bit more precise? Are there good reasons for taking this point of view? Can you actually get math done from that perspective?
What is "ultrafinitism" and why do people believe it?
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soft-question
philosophy
constructive-mathematics
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0How is this question not community wiki? – 2010-10-03
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16It is fun to also consider this question: What is "ZFC" and why do people beleive in it? – 2010-10-03
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0@Asaf: It seems OK - it's asking for an explanation of an established position in the philosophy of maths. The 2nd subquestion, "are there good reasons", is maybe a bit open-ended, but the question has hardly generated a deluge of opinionated posts. – 2010-10-04
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2Good question . – 2010-10-27
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0Hm... does induction only work up to the amount of things I can prove before the death of the universe? =P – 2017-12-28