Session:Faith in mathematics (Wondrous Mathematics)
| Description | Since Gödel's celebrated work we know: The rules of mathematics are incomplete. There are true statements for which we have proof that they don't have a proof and there are statements for which we can arbitrarily decide whether they are true or not. Learn more about this curious state of affairs in the session! |
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| Website(s) | |
| Type | Talk |
| Kids session | No |
| Keyword(s) | art |
| Processing assembly | Assembly:Curry Club Augsburg |
| Person organizing | User:IngoBlechschmidt |
| Language | en - English |
| Other sessions... | |
| Starts at | 2017/12/29 11:30 |
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| Ends at | 2017/12/29 12:30 |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
| Location | Room:Lecture room 12 |
This talk will give a gentle introduction to one of the cornerstone insights of mathematical logic: Gödel's unsettling incompleteness theorem, which states:
- There are statements which we know are true but for which we have proof that they will never have proof.
- There are statements for which we can arbitrarily decide whether they should be true or not.
These results wouldn't be surprising if they referred to statements about the real world. But they refer to purely mathematical statements, which are commonly thought to be genuinely objective. In the talk we'll learn that the naive understanding of logic as taught in schools is not tenable: There is a (well-understood) place for faith in mathematics.
The talk is aimed at people who enjoy mathematical thinking, but absolutely no prerequisites in formal logic are needed.
PS: True statements which are not provable – isn't this a paradox? How do we know that those statements are true if not by a proof? The talk will demystify this apparent paradox!
Questions are very much welcome! Drop by at the Curry Club Assembly (in the main hall where most of the assemblies are located, near Gate 2.3 and the virtual reality booth).
