In mathematical proofs, you start with axioms, and then use rules of inference to come to a conclusion.
But we can never know for sure that the axioms or the rules of inference don't contain errors.
There is no book, or deity to consult that can guarantee us true axioms or true rules of inference.
Mathematics is in the same boat as the sciences: we search for the truth by constantly trying to remove errors, but we can never know for sure that we have found THE TRUTH.
We can only know that we don't have axioms or rules of inference that work better, and that turns out to be pretty damn useful.
LaanTungir / Laan Tungir
npub1rm…4xv06
2025-06-05 10:03:00
Author Public Key
npub1rmz9gu6de0m0u4ysrn39crrud099ahvfgs6pvasl4hpjr5ud7yus54xv06Published at
2025-06-05 10:03:00Event JSON
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"content": "In mathematical proofs, you start with axioms, and then use rules of inference to come to a conclusion.\n\nBut we can never know for sure that the axioms or the rules of inference don't contain errors.\n\nThere is no book, or deity to consult that can guarantee us true axioms or true rules of inference.\n\nMathematics is in the same boat as the sciences: we search for the truth by constantly trying to remove errors, but we can never know for sure that we have found THE TRUTH.\n\nWe can only know that we don't have axioms or rules of inference that work better, and that turns out to be pretty damn useful.",
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