To every equation, to every formula in the surface world, there is a corresponding curve or mass. We don’t know the corresponding masses to irrational formulas, to my √-1—we haven’t ever seen them . . . But the very horror of it all is that these masses—invisible masses—do exist. They necessarily, inevitably must exist because mathematics is like a screen on which the whimsical, prickly shadows of irrational formulas cross before us. Mathematics and death: neither makes mistakes. And if these masses are not evident in our world, on the surface, then it’s inescapable: they must have their own
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