TED - you said -

"Your problem is that you want to write about abstract things, metaphysical things, mystical things, and desire to join the farther reaches of scientific hypothesising with dreamier theological daydreaming but you ignore the world of things"

The reason I originally started with the quote by Richard Friedberg was to emphasize that not everyone sees "Numbers" as "abstract things". YOU may see them that way - but not everyone else. I agree, however, that I totally failed to capture what Friedberg was try to say. And that is what I am struggling with. To Friedberg, Numbers inspire love, hate, fear and amusement - all the emotions we normally attribute to human interactions.

Tobias Dantzig ("Numbers, The Language of Science") wrote - "The number belongs to God". Numbers, like people, can be real, complex, amicable, excessive, imaginary, perfect squares, Irrational or prime. They have character all of their own. Words, however are simply a combination of things we made up - letters. They have only the meaning that we give them. Numbers, on the other hand, have an intrinsic meaning that exists outside of our "creation" You keep wanting to refer to everything outside of your personal experience as metaphysical things, mystical things How about looking "outside of the box"

d;-)