Godel, Turing and Truth

David Musick (David_Musick@msn.com)
Thu, 16 Jan 97 06:01:31 UT


Godel's Theorem states that if we have a consistent logical system (of
sufficient power to state mathematical truths), there will be mathematical
truths which cannot be proven from within the system. This means that there
are some things which are true which are impossible to *know for sure* from
within our logical framework.

Practiacally speaking, though, does it really matter? Yes, we can't know
*every single little truth*, but so what? About what percentage of all
possible truths does Godel's Theorem make off limits to us? My understanding
is that it is a very miniscule fraction of the set of all possible truths. So
we can know *almost everything*; that's good enough for me. Among all that
attainable knowledge, there is sure to be lots of useful facts we can benefit
from.

Our knowledge is going to be V_A_S_ T . A few little specks here and there
that we don't know with absolute surety will probably not be too devastating.

- David Musick

-- News flash: Christ has decided to forego the Second Coming; looks like
we'll have to solve our own problems after all. --