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
Perfect and imperfect competition
In this video, we’re going to give an overview of the types of markets that you might encounter in an economics class, and we’re going to get a little bit precise with our language because you’ll hear words like “perfect competition,” “monopoly,” or “olig…
Sanctuary | Vocabulary | Khan Academy
It’s all going to be okay, wordsmiths. We’re approaching a sanctuary. This is a peaceful video about a peaceful word. [Music] Sanct. It’s a noun. It means a place to hide and be safe; a place of protection for humans or animals. Maybe you’ve heard of an…
No Truth Can Be Justified
The initial guesses at what knowledge was all about amounted to what is known as the justified true belief vision of knowledge, and it’s still the most prevalent idea today. Anyone who calls themselves a Bayesian is a justified true believer, and that’s t…
Plant a Pollinator Garden | National Geographic
We all want to find ways to help our planet. This spring, start small by helping to preserve a critical element of our environment: wildflowers. Wildflowers, they do more than provide lovely scents; they’re pretty powerful. These beauties can hold the key…
The Unsung Heroes of the Arctic - Ep. 3 | Wildlife: The Big Freeze
[Bertie] Polar bears are such icons of the Arctic. It’s hard for anything else to escape their shadow. But what if I told you only a few inches from the ground, there’s a host of less celebrated little creatures who’ve made a playground of these brutal co…
Nature's 3D Printer: MIND BLOWING Cocoon in Rainforest - Smarter Every Day 94
Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day! So, we just got off this boat, and we’re gonna walk for about an hour in the jungle to find a moth pupa. Okay, Phil just found it. So, what are we looking at here? This here is the pupa of a moth c…