yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

We Can’t Prove Most Theorems with Known Physics


2m read
·Nov 3, 2024

Processing might take a few minutes. Refresh later.

The overwhelming majority of theorems in mathematics are theorems that we cannot possibly prove. This is Girdle's theorem, and it also comes out of Turing's proof of what is and is not computable. These things that are not computable vastly outnumber the things that are computable, and what is computable depends entirely upon what computers we can make in this physical universe.

The computers that we can make must obey our laws of physics. If the laws of physics were different, then we'd be able to prove different sorts of mathematics. This is another part of the mathematician's misconception: they think they can get outside of the laws of physics. However, their brain is just a physical computer. Their brain must obey the laws of physics.

If they existed in a universe with different laws of physics, then they could prove different theorems. But we exist in the universe that we're in, and so we're bound by a whole bunch of things, not least of which is the finite speed of light. So there could be certain things out there in abstract space which we would be able to come to a more full understanding of if we could get outside of the restrictions of the laws of physics here.

Happily, none of those theorems that we cannot prove at the moment are inherently interesting. Some things can be inherently boring; namely, all of these theorems which we cannot possibly prove as true or false. Those theorems can't have any bearing in our physical universe. They have nothing to do with our physical universe, and this is why we say they're inherently uninteresting. There's a lot of inherently uninteresting things...

More Articles

View All
How Many Stocks Should Be In Your Portfolio? (Buffett, Lynch, Pabrai Explain)
We think diversification is a practice that generally makes very little sense for anyone that knows what they’re doing. Uh, diversification is a protection against ignorance. [Music] This video is sponsored by Hypercharts. Sign up to Hypercharts using the…
Khan Academy Needs Your Help This Back to School
Hi everyone, Sal Khan here from Khan Academy. I just want to remind everyone that, as we’re going through what’s clearly a very difficult time, especially, well, in the world generally, but especially in education, the entire team here at Khan Academy is…
The Best Ways The Rich Build a Recession-Proof Investment Portfolio
You know, Alexir, the rich come out almost unscathed during recessions. In fact, many come out in better shape than when the recession started. The world can shout about bailouts as loud as they want, but if you look deeper into it, you’ll see their growt…
Yes, you need a password manager. Here’s why.
So Guemmy, you’re… Which I agree with. You’re telling us to have hard to break into passwords. But then the obvious question is how does a normal human being manage all of these passwords, that don’t have regular words in them? They can’t reuse the same p…
Cortex Subtle T's & Hoodies! Annual Limited Drop!
For years I struggled to find the perfect t-shirt, sadly without success. Then, over at Cortex Incorporated, where we mostly make premium paper productivity products, we pondered: can we also produce the perfect shirt? Something everyday casual, but that…
Knowing Yourself
I think that one of the most important fundamental ingredients to being happy in life and being successful is to be realistic about yourself, your preferences, and also your strengths and weaknesses that everybody has. I think the system, particularly th…