On Sun, Dec 16, 2018 at 4:01 PM Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 8:56 AM Jason Resch <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On Sun, Dec 16, 2018 at 3:28 PM Brent Meeker <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> >>> But a system that is consistent can also prove a statement that is false: >>> >>> axiom 1: Trump is a genius. >>> axiom 2: Trump is stable. >>> >>> theorem: Trump is a stable genius. >>> >> >> So how is this different from flawed physical theories? >> > > Physical theories do not claim to prove theorems - they are not systems of > axioms and theorems. Attempts to recast physics in this form have always > failed. > > Physical theories claim to describe models of reality. You can have a fully consistent physical theory that nevertheless fails to accurately describe the physical world, or is an incomplete description of the physical world. Likewise, you can have an axiomatic system that is consistent, but fails to accurately describe the integers, or is less complete than we would like. It is a completely analogous situation. If you hold the physical reality is real because we can study it objectively and refine our understanding of it through observations, then the same would hold for the mathematical reality. Jason -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
