next up previous
Next: References Up: SHERLOCK: A Vertically Integrated Previous: Appendix C: A Logic

Appendix D: A Gödelian Puzzle

Suppose there is a machine tex2html_wrap_inline706 tex2html_wrap_inline708 which prints out various expressions built from the following five symbols:

displaymath710

By an expression we mean any finite non-empty string built from these five symbols. (So PPPPPPMM(( is an expression, as is tex2html_wrap_inline714 .) An expression is called printable if the machine can print it. We assume that tex2html_wrap_inline706 tex2html_wrap_inline708 is programmed so that any expression it can print will be printed sooner or later.

The mirror of an expression tex2html_wrap_inline720 is the expression tex2html_wrap_inline722 -- e.g., the mirror of tex2html_wrap_inline724 is tex2html_wrap_inline726 . A sentence is an expression having one of the following four forms:

  1. tex2html_wrap_inline728
  2. tex2html_wrap_inline730
  3. tex2html_wrap_inline732
  4. tex2html_wrap_inline734

P stands for ``printable;" M stands for ``the mirror of" and tex2html_wrap_inline508 stands (as it often does in logic) for ``not." Hence we define tex2html_wrap_inline728 to be true iffgif tex2html_wrap_inline720 is printable. We define tex2html_wrap_inline730 to be true if the mirror of tex2html_wrap_inline720 is printable. We call tex2html_wrap_inline732 true iff tex2html_wrap_inline720 is not printable, and tex2html_wrap_inline734 is defined to be true iff the mirror of tex2html_wrap_inline720 is not printable.

We are given that the machine tex2html_wrap_inline706 tex2html_wrap_inline708 is accurate in that all sentences printed by the machine are true. So, for example, if the machine ever prints tex2html_wrap_inline728 , then tex2html_wrap_inline720 really is printable (i.e., tex2html_wrap_inline720 will be printed by tex2html_wrap_inline706 tex2html_wrap_inline708 sooner or later). Also, if tex2html_wrap_inline730 is printable, so is tex2html_wrap_inline774 .

Suppose tex2html_wrap_inline720 is printable. Do we then know that tex2html_wrap_inline728 is printable? No; here's why. If tex2html_wrap_inline720 is printable then tex2html_wrap_inline728 is certainly true, but we are not given that the machine is capable of printing all true sentences -- only that the machine never prints any false ones.

Question 1: Is it possible that the machine can print all true sentences? Why?

Answer: tex2html_wrap_inline584 Yes; tex2html_wrap_inline584 No Justification:

gif


next up previous
Next: References Up: SHERLOCK: A Vertically Integrated Previous: Appendix C: A Logic

Selmer Bringsjord
Wed May 7 15:20:45 EDT 1997