Talk:Proof: Difference between revisions

14 bytes removed ,  12 years ago
m
m (→‎Quantifiers: move re)
m (→‎Quantifiers: indent)
Line 258:
 
This will be my final attempt to clarify this to you (please grab a book or article on type theory if you want to know how mathematicians and computer scientists define a type): The only implication of the fact that an actual implementation of a given logic/type theory runs on a machine with a finite amount of memory is that the set of results the compiler can give is extended from "I was able to verify the proof as correct" and "I was able to verify the proof as incorrect" with "I'm unable to verify the proof as either correct or incorrect because I ran out of memory". The third option must not occur here. The compiler should say "I was able to verify the proof as correct", assuring us that the property even + even = even hold for all countably infinite pairs of natural numbers.
 
::::::: Similarly if the theorem asked us to proof that reversing a linked list twice gives us back the original linked list, we should be able to prove this. This proof should hold independently of whether the machine has an 32-bit, 64-bit or even unbounded word size. Having a finite amount of memory will not prevent a computer working with infinities, it will only bound the maximum complexity of the proof - exactly similar to the situation where a mathematician only has a finite amount of paper to work on (and I've yet to meet a mathematician with an infinite supply of paper).
::::::: I'm strongly getting the impression that you've never managed to work out a proof by induction on paper, however, making this beyond you abilities to comprehend. In that case either do the appropriate background research or simply accept this on authority. —''[[User:Ruud Koot|Ruud]]'' 12:04, 14 May 2012 (UTC)
 
::::::: I'm strongly getting the impression that you've never managed to work out a proof by induction on paper, however, making this beyond you abilities to comprehend. In that case either do the appropriate background research or simply accept this on authority. —''[[User:Ruud Koot|Ruud]]'' 12:04, 14 May 2012 (UTC)
Anonymous user