FOM: Analogy between spacetime and formalism?

[V. Sazonov]

Jeffrey Ketland wrote:

> You've shot yourself in the foot here. In this case, there is always a
> manifold M, with an atlas of co-ordinate charts that covers M. The
> co-ordinates thus describe something *external to the co-ordinates* - namely
> the points in the manifold, their subsets and certain relations (c.f.,
> formal systems are descriptions of mathematical structures, which we do not
> create). 

.........


Dear Jeffrey, 

It is, in particular, because of this mathematically definable notion 
of manifold (the set of all "possible" physical events) I wrote that the 
analogy is not complete. My analogy was rather related with absoluteness 
of time - the main point of relativity theory and why this theory got 
this name. 


Is this enough for the analogy (which was, of course, not the main point 
of my posting, just an illustration)? 

As to formal systems describing mathematical structures, `which we do
not
create', I, of course, do not agree that we do not create them. 


Best regards, 
Vladimir Sazonov