Because no father uses math when pitching a baseball to his son... and yet, father can predict trajectory of baseball when son pitches back, thus catching the ball. No calculations involved... just reaction reflex.

My dog catches tennis balls quite well, but can't add 2 & 2. She see's motion of ball and forecasts future position, thereby aligning her body and mouth accordingly.

The study of physics may be an intellectual endeavor, however, a basic understanding of physics is rather inhereted in the form of instinct. No math needed to predict, just reflex...

A philosopher can predict with reasonable accuracy where sun will appear to be in sky tomorrow at about 2 pm, without ever setting pen to paper or picking up a calculator.

• By the way, how does dog do this? - alexander - November 2, 2001 - 00:55 UTC
  • Pattern matching - yanniru - November 2, 2001 - 15:17 UTC
    • I asked not WHAT but HOW animals (including humans) do that? - alexander - November 2, 2001 - 16:18 UTC
      • May be, brain memorizes experience? - alexander - November 5, 2001 - 20:23 UTC