Mathematics, objective truth and why 2+2=4 and not 2+2=5
There's a discussion on Twitter about the result of the arithmetic operation 2+2. It all started with James Lindsay who made a snarky remark to illustrate the point that there's The Objective Truth which is not a societal construct: 2+2=4: A perspective in white, Western mathematics that marginalizes other possible values. Twitter users don't seem to be a fan of James Lindsay and wanted to prove him wrong by finding a way to "prove" that 2+2=5 and that everything is a societal construct. You can read Lindsay summary of the issue here , but first stay with me for a while. Full disclosure: I did not know who James Lindsay was until this whole Twitter storm. This Twitter discussion, when you remove the facade of sarcasm, anger and spite, goes to the very core of mathematics - something I'm familiar with and very passionate about. So let me take you on a journey through crumbling foundations of mathematics and how they were rebuilt (or rather plastered together s