"Mathematics, and perhaps other sciences like physics, have the mission to prepare or improve the human brain, be it the brain of an individual or the collective brain of mankind, for developments yet to come. Just as animals play... in preparation for situations arising later in their lives, it may be that mathematics... is a collection of games. ...may be the only way to change the individual or collective human mind to prepare it for a future that no one can yet imagine. ...[L]ife appears inter alia as a sequence of chemical games... between individuals, or between groups... essentially of a mathematical nature... not... the von Neumann-Morgenstern theory of games, but more general games in the widest sense. This has perhaps... a direct biological role... a book... by... , ...Das Spiel (The Game) ...describes a number of mathematical games or puzzles and discusses the games molecules... play with each other. ... ...we have seen ...starting with a simple pattern and simple recursive rules can lead to unbelievably complicated configurations... that... defy analysis a priori."
Mathematics

January 1, 1970