I suggest this may be a map/territory problem. Math is part of the map, but it has no physical analog with the territory. Rather, it tells us (some of) what to expect about the way the territory behaves under certain specific conditions (like when two sheep and then three sheep leave the pen).
Another way to look at it is that quantity (on which math operates) is a quality, akin to redness or sourness, but operating only on groups. That is to say, there is something there that causes fiveness to appear in my brain, but that thing is not an inherent part of the sheep any more than fluffiness or whiteness. Thus ‘2+3=5’ has the same truth value as ‘black + white = gray’.
I suggest this may be a map/territory problem. Math is part of the map, but it has no physical analog with the territory. Rather, it tells us (some of) what to expect about the way the territory behaves under certain specific conditions (like when two sheep and then three sheep leave the pen).
Another way to look at it is that quantity (on which math operates) is a quality, akin to redness or sourness, but operating only on groups. That is to say, there is something there that causes fiveness to appear in my brain, but that thing is not an inherent part of the sheep any more than fluffiness or whiteness. Thus ‘2+3=5’ has the same truth value as ‘black + white = gray’.