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Are Computers Ready to Create Mathematical Proofs?

Posted by michael on from the GIGO dept.

DoraLives writes "Interesting article in the New York Times regarding the quandary mathematicians are now finding themselves in. In a lovely irony reminiscent of the torture, in days of yore, that students were put through when it came to using, or not using, newfangled calculators in class, the Big Guys are now wrestling with a very similar issue regarding computers: 'Can we trust the darned things?' 'Can we know what we know?' Fascinating stuff."

4 of 441 comments (clear)

  1. I enjoy watching him squirm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Rumsfeld is the only senior staff member that seems to have a pulse. He is always lively and joking in his press briefings. I may not agree with some of his decisions or policies, but at least I can listen to him without falling alseep. I wish more politicians were not robots. Every time I hear a snippet of a Bush speech it sounds so fucking robotic, almost on the same level as Gore. Rumsfeld is always trying to squirm his way out of a direct answer to pretty much every question the press asks him. It's hillarious.

  2. Re:The secret proof to life... by BarakMich · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    42!

    What else is there to know?

    I doubt I'm the only one who read that as 42-factorial...

    (BTW: 42! = 14050061177528798985431426062445115699363840000000 00)

  3. Re:a mathematician's perspective by dilby · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    as a graduate in the fields of mathematics, i spent a large portion of my five undergraduate years

    as a graduate in the fields of mathematics, i spent a large portion of my seven undergraduate years drinking beer and trying to get laid

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  4. Re:I see no good reason why not.... by Hao+Wu · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Computers are a human creation...it's not a matter of whether we can trust the computer, but rather a matter of can we trust that the people who built the computer and coded the software it runs knew what they were doing and didn't make any errors. Computers can only do what we tell them to...so really it was humans who indirectly made the proofs by producing a system capable of doing so.

    Completely fascinating.... So how do I use a mouse? Also, I wish to use 3.5" disk in my 5.25" floppy drive.. is this possible?

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