Mathematics is not up for the task of describing complex systems
Mathematics may possibly be the only right tool for this; but mathematics has not always been concerned with complex and interconnected systems. John von Neumann, talking about the intelligent and complex system that is the human brain famously noted that
the outward forms of our mathematics are not absolutely relevant from the point of view of evaluating what the mathematical or logical language truly used by the central nervous system is. However, the above remarks about reliability and logical and arithmetical depth prove that whatever the system is, it cannot fail to differ considerably from what we consciously and explicitly consider as mathematics. – The Computer and The Brain (Von Neumann)
And so, when we try to describe big interconnected networks with linear algebra, geometry and calculus, we seem to miss the point: things get extremely complicated, computationally intractable, humanly unimaginable, and we declare our defeat and we ask an impenetrable pile of linear algebra to be our oracle.
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