While filming herself getting ready for work recently, TikTok user @gracie.ham reached deep into the ancient foundations of mathematics and found an absolute gem of a question: "How could someone come up with a concept like algebra?"She also asked what the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras might have used mathematics for, and other questions that revolve around the age-old conundrum of whether mathematics is "real" or something humans just made up.Many responded negatively to the post, but others – including mathematicians like me – found the questions quite insightful.Is mathematics real?Philosophers and mathematicians have been arguing over this for centuries. Some believe mathematics is universal; others consider it only as real as anything else humans have invented.Thanks to @gracie.ham, Twitter users have now vigorously joined the debate.If she's asking how we uncover mathematical truths, are those truths real or constructed etc indicates she likely got an A in algebra without...
