the point isn't to prove that the triangle is a triangle it's to prove that the system of mathematics you made up actually works
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2024
567 points (97.8% liked)
Science Memes
11081 readers
2765 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- !reptiles and [email protected]
Physical Sciences
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and [email protected]
- [email protected]
- !self [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
hey! get out of here with your math!!
Help! He's logicing all over us!
Until you prove that you can't prove that the system you made up works.
Nobody is practically concerned with the "incompleteness" aspect of Gödel's theorems. The unprovable statements are so pathological/contrived that it doesn't appear to suggest any practical statement might be unprovable. Consistency is obviously more important. Sufficiently weak systems may also not be limited by the incompleteness theorems, i.e. they can be proved both complete and consistent.
Oh, what if the Riemann hypothesis is such a statement then? Or any other mathematical statement. We may not have any use for them now, but as with all things math, they are sometimes useful somewhere unexpected.
It's extremely unlikely given the pathological nature of all known unprovable statements. And those are useless, even to mathematicians.
Math is also used to make a statement/model our universe. And we are still trying to find the theory to unify quantum mechanics and gravity. What if our math is simply inconsistent hence the theory of everything is not possible within the current mathematical framework?
Sure when you are solving the problems it is useless to ponder about it, but it serves as a reminder to also search for other ideas and not outright dismiss any strange new concept for a mathematical system. Or more generally, any logical system that follows a set of axioms. Just look at the history of mathematics itself. How many years before people start to accept that yes imaginary numbers are a thing.
Dunno what you're trying to say. Yes, if ZFC is inconsistent it would be an issue, but in the unlikely event this is discovered, it would be overwhelmingly probable that a similar set of axioms could be used in a way which is transparent to the vast majority of mathematics. Incompleteness is more likely and less of an issue.
I think the statement "this system is consistent" is a practical statement that is unprovable in a sufficiently powerful consistent system.
Can you help me understand the tone of your text? To me it sounds kinda hostile as if what you said is some kind of gotcha.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
You just reminded me of having to prove that math signs work and do what they do from basic axioms to integers and rational numbers using logical proofs... Damn that was interesting but SO tedious...
Well, at that level I think it's more to show you know how to prove it. You're working under the assumption the axioms of the system you've been told work.
You can tell it's a triangle because of the way it is.
How neat is that??
Yay nostalgia!
You have no idea how much I need it friend. Now...can I pet that dawg??
I depend on it.
I feel that brother. Stay strong
That's pretty neat!
Philomena Cunk proof right there
that won't work for yoda, though. for him, there is no triangle. there's just doangle or donotangle.
How have I not heard this before 😆
I nearly failed geometry because I didn't understand what my instructor wanted from me.
Yes but what if one side is so slightly curved that it's invisible to the naked eye? Then your total angles would be 179.99 degrees and it's not a triangle.
Non-Euclidian horrors beyond comprehension
Commonly known as reality
But isn't a curve just many angles next to one another?
Yes, but infinitely many.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Even philosophy 101 can give you a ton of reasons why looking at it just isn't enough
Especially Philosophy 101
How Can Triangles Be Real If Our Eyes Aren't Real?
"Just look at it". Visual proofs are not proofs. They're demonstrations. For a species that is so easily fooled by things we see, visualization cannot be taken as rigorous proof.
Hmm can you prove that
"If we can't prove these two triangles are similar while not being congruent, the world is doomed."
"Oh my god. We need a 10th grader with at least a B-average, stat!"
LoL, actual.
I loved geometry. It made algebra make sense. Plus I had a really awesome geometry teacher. He looked like Shel Silverstein and was super pumped every day to teach math.
I loved geometry. It's the class where I first got experience programming. I just sat in class programming stuff on my calculator not really paying attention. I did fine in the class luckily.
Totally unrelated, but I (30 yo) recently realized I'm almost certainly ADHD. There definitely weren't any identifiable signs before that people should have noticed...
In one of my last CS classes, we did proofs and would use "by observation" for this kind of thing.
Equilateral triangle. All three sides are equal length and it has three interior angles that add up to exactly 180 degrees.
I don't believe in geometry
I'm 6'5
view more: next ›