X-Message-Number: 10271
From: Olaf Henny <>
Subject: Cryonet #10261
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 09:31:39 -0700

> From: Olaf Henny <>
> 
> From: "Perry E. Metzger" <>
>> 
>> >> Peter Merel (#10221) points out that questioning Goedel and other
>> >> eminences is presumptuous.
>> >
>> >Preposterous is more like it.
>> 
>> This, Sir, is a servile attitude,
>
>No, it is the attitude of someone who actually understands the
>contents of the theorem in question and has followed the proof closely 
>enough. To question the proof is to question my own ability to
>reason. The beauty of mathematical proofs is that they are open to
>anyone who cares to read them independently verifying them.
>
>> *Everything* should be questioned,
>
Sorry, I should have said: "Everything should be open to question
and be questioned by someone."  

>And indeed, I questioned Godel's theorem, examined it, and found it,
>with my own mind, to be true. 

So why then do you label such an act "preposterous"?

>One cannot question everything at all
>times. At some point you have to settle down and say "yes, I believe
>that the object in front of me is a wall, and that no matter how often 
>I move my head in an attempt to go through it, my forehead will
>continue to be bruised".\

Of course.

Best,
Olaf
___________________________________

Tolerance is wisdom's finest fruit
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