Full Idea
There is no ground for saying that a number IS a position, if the truth is that there is nothing to determine which number is which position.
Gist of Idea
Numbers can't be positions, if nothing decides what position a given number has
Source
David Bostock (Philosophy of Mathematics [2009], 6.4)
Book Reference
Bostock,David: 'Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction' [Wiley-Blackwell 2009], p.190
A Reaction
If numbers lose touch with the empirical ability to count physical objects, they drift off into a mad world where they crumble away.