Comment by hughw
3 days ago
From E.T. Jaynes' Probability Theory [1] :
To understand the above Gödel result, the essential point is
the principle of elementary logic that a contradiction
Ā A implies all propositions, true and false.
(Given any two propositions A and B, we have A ⇒ (A+B),
therefore Ā A ⇒ Ā (A+B) = Ā A + Ā B ⇒ B.)
Then let A = {A1, A2, ..., An,} be the system of axioms
underlying a mathematical theory and T any proposition,
or theorem, deducible from them:
A ⇒ T.
Now, whatever T may assert, the fact that T can be deduced
from the axioms cannot prove that there is no contradiction
in them, since, if there were a contradiction, T could
certainly be deduced from them!
This is the essence of the Gödel theorem, as it pertains to
our problems. As noted by Fisher(1956), it shows us the
intuitive reason why Gödel's result is true. We do not
suppose that any logician would accept Fisher's simple
argument as a proof of the full Gödel theorem; yet for most
of us it is more convincing than Gödel's long and
complicated proof.
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