> You're positing a universe where it's impossible to construct counting
Not quite. Your parent post was about thinking beings being incapable of counting, unless I misinterpreted, not about the universe making it impossible for anyone to count. My analogy is that for a while our universe was one in which non-Euclidean geometry was unfathomable for at least one thinking species, although it clearly can be observed in the universe.
Counting is something that is deeply embedded in our evolutionary tree (some fish and frogs have a primitive ability to count). So of course it seems fundamental to us. But to me this is not a proof that you cannot think without being able to count in our familiar way.
For example, you could perhaps build a logical system using uncountable quantities and still get something out of it. Like some fish which are able to see which school is bigger and base decisions on this without being able to count.
Not quite. Your parent post was about thinking beings being incapable of counting, unless I misinterpreted, not about the universe making it impossible for anyone to count. My analogy is that for a while our universe was one in which non-Euclidean geometry was unfathomable for at least one thinking species, although it clearly can be observed in the universe.
Counting is something that is deeply embedded in our evolutionary tree (some fish and frogs have a primitive ability to count). So of course it seems fundamental to us. But to me this is not a proof that you cannot think without being able to count in our familiar way.
For example, you could perhaps build a logical system using uncountable quantities and still get something out of it. Like some fish which are able to see which school is bigger and base decisions on this without being able to count.