Thomas Tymoczko, introduction to New Directions in the Philosophy of Mathematics (1986, rev. 1998), p. xiii:
To account for the indubitability, objectivity and timelessness of mathematical results, we are tempted to regard them as true descriptions of a Platonic world outside of space-time. This leaves us with the problem of explaining how human beings can make contact with this reality.
Well, yes, that is indeed a question; but not a new one. The same conundrum confronts us in the Mind-Body problem; the problem of Free Will; and more simply, the problem of how you and I can communicate at all. There are even puzzles at the level of mid-level objects. The thesis of Mathematical Realism may or may not be valid, but it does not introduce a problem which we might otherwise avoid.
