[zelienople]

That is a work of stunning arrogance and foolishness.

Math is a game we play in our heads that represents a fictionalized ideal version of reality.

An alien intelligence might have realized that two plus two never equals four not because the underlying logic is wrong, but because two does not exist in reality.

The idea that the little game of math we play represents an immutable and universal truth is typical of the overwhelming anthropocentrism of our kind.

[dan_mctree]

This is a comment of stunning ignorance.

Just because some alien societies will not mimic our rules of addition, we do know for certain it is possible that other societies can build abstract concepts that are isomorphic to those we have. And many of these concepts, such as addition, are very useful.

Does this guarantee that aliens come up with the same stuff? No. Does it guarantee that if they did, they would these concepts to the same esteem? No. Is there an element of 'truth' here that can be replicated by others? Absolutely