saying infinity is a mathematical symbol we can observe is simplifying it way too much, all mathematical symbols are abstractions.
i can observe two apples. i cannot observe infinity apples.
i can observe two apples. i cannot observe infinity apples.
To my mind, maths is like a "what if?" puzzle and whether or not infinity makes sense in the physical world, there's still fun to be had by considering the consequences of it.
That also means that it can be interesting to consider limited number systems which don't have any concept of infinity.
Like infinity.
I'm not sure I actually believe that, I'm just thinking out loud. But it leads me to think the question "Does infinity exist?" should be answered with the question "An infinity of what?"
But none of this can be observed either, which in my book makes your argument a bit weak.
Your "universal reality" is a construction relying in big parts on the mathematics relying on infinity as a concept.
Well do you say it or are you just playing devils advocate? The post you are responding to seems very straightforward.
If you wanna go all philosophical, “real” might just be anything that is useful. In that way infinity is real because you can use it to do calculus. On the other hand, there are ways of doing calculus that do not involve thinking about infinity. But if you’re gonna count to three apples you pretty much have to go through “two” no matter what.