8 Mind-Bending Unanswered Questions About The Universe

3. What Are Numbers?

Go on then, what are they?

You probably don't go more than an hour at a time without using numbers in some form, but when you think about it, how would you explain them to, say, an alien that has no concept of what they are?

Number are points, squiggly lines, factors, but are they real things or are they simply the best method we have for describing the universe around us? Whilst we're on the subject, there are many who think it's pretty weird that numbers appear to work so well.

So far, the vast majority of reality has proved itself to be computable. We can summarise some of the most complex interactions in the universe, by writing down a few numbers in the right order.

Whilst it's tempting to say that numbers are simply human constructs, there is a good argument to be made that there is something fundamentally quantifiable about the universe, and our numerical representation of that could just be allowing us to glimpse it.

There are also those who view the amazing nature of numbers, not as a happy accident or evidence of man's genius, but as highly suspicious - almost as though someone planned it that way...