Timeline for Examples of prime numbers in nature
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
7 events
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| Oct 25, 2010 at 16:32 | comment | added | PamNDRome | How can you (the OP) make the comment that prime numbers are relatively infrequent in nature without some sort of collating mechanism to calculate the incidence of integer values in general. Group-think is leading people to vote up a question that has not got a sound mathematical basis, or any sound science underneath it which I can discern. Please argue with my point about the relative incidence of primes vs. nonprimes in nature; note that the OP did not have anything factual or scientific to say about it. Pete, look at my comment carefully, I just point out the short jump to ID from this Q. | |
| Oct 25, 2010 at 16:27 | comment | added | PamNDRome | The question itself still states "...of the use of prime numbers in nature is as an evolutionary strategy...", and look at my $2$nd paragraph, where I say that prime numbers are not used in nature, they occur in nature. I don't charge anything but point out the short walk from "the use of prime numbers", and it's silly to gang up on me with negative points. The first statement the OP makes is "Finding primes in signals is seen as a sign of some kind of intelligence"... It's bizarre group/gang behaviour; the people at night got my point. What would the relative frequency of primes show? | |
| Oct 25, 2010 at 14:49 | comment | added | Pete L. Clark | -1 for insinuating that the OP is promoting intelligent design: from an intellectual standpoint, I can hardly think of a more insulting charge to level against someone. In this case, the evidence doesn't seem to back it up. | |
| Oct 25, 2010 at 6:54 | comment | added | vonjd | @PamNDRome: I think you didn't get the point. I was not implying that the occurrence of prime numbers in nature hinted at some kind of intelligent design. The only thing that you could possibly deduce is the presence of some kind of information processing (and I think the prevalent example of the cicadas could also fall under this category). And as we all know information processing takes place all the time and is esp. accelerated by evolution. | |
| Oct 25, 2010 at 4:05 | comment | added | PamNDRome | to andy putnam, I can't comment at the top, but thanks for voting to close. I don't see how mathematicians takes on the coincidental presence of prime numbers in natural phenomena rises to the level of research which ought to be investigated here... | |
| Oct 25, 2010 at 4:03 | comment | added | PamNDRome | I overstated my point when I said "perhaps I could buy the argument that primes are a sign of intelligence in nature..." --- If it could be shown that prime numbers occured more frequently than would be expected by random draws in that multiset $S$ of numbers occuring in natural phenomena, I would only be willing to buy the possibility that there is some possible phenomenon that underlies the selection of those particular prime numbers in those particular cases. I would not buy there presence as an indication of intelligence in nature or underlying natural phenomena. | |
| Oct 25, 2010 at 0:23 | history | answered | PamNDRome | CC BY-SA 2.5 |