Topic: Maths and Dogmatism
Mathematics is given an absolutist status not unlike that given to scripture by religious followers. Yet mathematics, like scripture, does not deserve this status. The major reason is that one of Godel's incompleteness theorems prove the impossibility of having a mathematical system that is both consistent and complete. This means that a consistent system in maths, meaning its axioms do not prove a contradiction, will also have "true" statements that are unprovable - thus another system must be added to prove them.
The implications of this are profound. First, a foundation for mathematics is impossible because it is impossible to use a single mathematical system to prove every "true" mathematical statement. Thus, several systems must be used to prove every mathematical statement, yet two systems can not be merged together for completeness without also proving a contradiction. Consequently, it is futile to claim that our present understanding of mathematics can prove everything about the world. I say this because maths has an undeserved status not just among common people, but also among people who should know better such as mathematicians and physicists. Physicists also come off as being the most dogmatic members of the scientific community with an almost religious devotion to their theories based almost entirely on mathematics, while other scientific fields that depend on more empirical research are much more humble about the limits of their theories.