First of all, this is a nice piece and has given me food for thoughts. I think i agree wth both notions that mathematics is both real and abstract. If i have a black pen and another blue one, one would conclude that i have 2pens even though clearly they aren't exact the same.... This is just the practical aspect and as you said it's just human values. Like the platonists , i also agree that mathematics is an illusion and if aliens actually existed (I'm not so sure they do) they'd have their methods of calculations that might look totally different from ours but in conclusion, mathematics has been really helpful.
Nice one, good stuff cryptogee
RE: Questioning Reality - Is Math Real?