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Math-monks follow Galileo’s faith that “the Book of Nature is written in the language of mathematics.” They believe mathematical descriptions are the one-true-way, the best and most reliable kind of knowing. Plural-reasoners side with polymath Pascal who warned against over reliance on the “spirit of geometry,” which sees only the mathematically characterisable. Physics’ successes spread Galileo’s gospel so far that J.S. Mill thought sociology would become “social astronomy.” We live in the aftermath of Galileo’s triumph, where rational is often reduced to meaning what can be shown by the numbers - http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/04/09/sciences-cult-of-calculation/