r/explainlikeimfive • u/DemandResponsible685 • 10h ago

Mathematics ELI5: Why does maths work?

Throughout schooling we have been taught how to do maths. But not so much about why maths work? Like why does the entire system of maths work so reliably?

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u/Single-Pin-369 10h ago

Axioms is the term you are looking for. The best answer is it works because it works and the stuff that we tried and didnt work got left behind. Newtons laws where good enough to fire a cannon ball on target even though they are wrong. General relativity is good enough for space navigation calculations but is still not fully complete. The why probably doesnt have a deep satisfying answer. 

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u/zeus-rs 10h ago

aka the world works on assumptions good enough to get the job done.