Difference between revisions of "Hardy, G. H."
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| − | "All is well as long as you cannot prove two contradictory theorems ... For then it is possible to prove anything. The analyst G. H. Hardy once made this remark at dinner, and was asked by a sceptic to justify it: 'Given that 2+2 = 5, prove that McTaggart is the Pope.' Hardy thought briefly and replied, 'We also know that 2+2 = 4, so that 5 = 4. Subtracting 3 we get 2 = 1. McTaggart and the Pope are two, hence McTaggart and the Pope are one.'" - p. 116. Stewart, I. 1995. ''Concepts of Modern Mathematics''. Dover Publications, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-486-28424-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=4WPDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 | + | "All is well as long as you cannot prove two contradictory theorems ... For then it is possible to prove ''anything''. The analyst G. H. Hardy once made this remark at dinner, and was asked by a sceptic to justify it: 'Given that 2+2 = 5, prove that McTaggart is the Pope.' Hardy thought briefly and replied, 'We also know that 2+2 = 4, so that 5 = 4. Subtracting 3 we get 2 = 1. McTaggart and the Pope are two, hence McTaggart and the Pope are one.'" - p. 116. Stewart, I. 1995. ''Concepts of Modern Mathematics''. Dover Publications, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-486-28424-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=4WPDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 |
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Revision as of 09:19, 2 September 2018
"All is well as long as you cannot prove two contradictory theorems ... For then it is possible to prove anything. The analyst G. H. Hardy once made this remark at dinner, and was asked by a sceptic to justify it: 'Given that 2+2 = 5, prove that McTaggart is the Pope.' Hardy thought briefly and replied, 'We also know that 2+2 = 4, so that 5 = 4. Subtracting 3 we get 2 = 1. McTaggart and the Pope are two, hence McTaggart and the Pope are one.'" - p. 116. Stewart, I. 1995. Concepts of Modern Mathematics. Dover Publications, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-486-28424-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=4WPDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116
