Mathematics is Invariant: Reading is Not

Mathematics is not a description of reality at our scale. It is a formal system of relations: a structure defined by its axioms and operations, not by any particular reading. Relations are resolution-independent. Readings are not. This distinction dissolves two longstanding puzzles: why mathematics is unreasonably effective at describing physics, and why the speed of light appears as a universal constant. The answer in both cases is the same. The formal system is invariant. The constants are readings. The equations are relations. What we built at our resolution works at our resolution because we built it there, and the formal system underneath it extends further than we can read.