Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

[Phys-L] Re: 2+2=4



Bernard Cleyet wrote:
I thought Russell got a Nobel for answering this?

No, he didn't.

For starters, there is no Nobel prize for mathematics.

=======================

If you want to have an "explanation" for 2 + 2 = 4, you need
to start by defining 2, defining 4, defining +, et cetera.

A conventional way to do this is in terms of the _Peano axioms_.

From there, the proof that SS0 + SS0 = SSSS0 takes about ten
lines. You can google for the Peano axioms, but far and away
the most accessible presentation of this topic (including the
aforementioned proof) can be found in
Douglas Hofstadter, _Gödel, Escher, Bach_

The book is a masterpiece. It the sort of book that if I didn't
already know it had a Pulitzer prize, I would assume it did. OTOH
it doesn't appeal to every taste.
_______________________________________________
Phys-L mailing list
Phys-L@electron.physics.buffalo.edu
https://www.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l