[lit-ideas] Fermat's Conjecture
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 21:50:53 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 5/16/2013 8:51:03 A.M. UTC-02, donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx
writes in "Trimundanity":
"[The contradiction was there even if no one ever discovered it.]"
--- This with reference to Downward causation of "world 3", to use Popper's
neologism, on "world 2" -- Popper's grandiose word for mere 'psychology'.
For those who do not want to follow the jargon (which may confuse), there
are options.
But the point seems that the above,
"The contradiction [in Frege's system, as discovered by Russell] was there
even if no one ever discovered it."
seems like a 'metaphysical' statement, alla the type of claims that the
neo-positivists (logical positivists) would would criticise. Cfr. Hume,
"Hume" writes:
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it,
does it make a sound?"
"This is a philosophical thought experiment that raises questions
regarding observation and knowledge of reality -- to me anyways."
"For suppose there is an island, call it "Island". If a tree were to fall
on an island where there were no human beings would there be any sound?"
"No."
"Because sound is the sensation excited in the ear when the air or other
medium is set in motion."
"Again, if a tree were to fall on an uninhabited island, would there be
any sound?"
"No: sound is vibration, transmitted to our senses through the mechanism of
the ear, and recognized as sound only at our nerve centers."
"The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of
the air."
"If there be no ears to hear, there will be no sound."
MUTATIS MUTANDIS, if there be no contradiction as discovered by Russell,
there will be no contradiction _simpliciter_.
For consider "Hume"
"When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and
no animal is near by to hear it, does it make a sound? Why?"
Berkeley retorted:
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, where are
they?".
Similarly, Einstein said to Bohr:
"The moon does not exist if nobody is looking at it."
"To this," Eddington writes, "Bohr replied that however hard he (Einstein)
may try, he would not be able to prove that it does, thus giving the entire
riddle the status of a kind of an infallible conjecture--one that cannot
be either proved or disproved."
cfr. Fermat.
Cheers,
Speranza
An episode in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, titled
"The Royale", refers to the theorem in the first act. Riker visits Captain
Jean-Luc Picard in his ready room to report only to find Picard puzzling
over Fermat's last theorem. Picard's interest in this theorem goes beyond the
difficulty of the puzzle; he also feels humbled that despite their
advanced technology, they are still unable to solve a problem set forth by a
man
who had no computer[133] (the episode aired in 1989, six years before the
proof was discovered). An episode in Star Trek: Deep Space 9, titled
"Facets", refers to the theorem as well. In a scene involving O'Brien, Tobin
Dax
mentions continuing work on his own attempt to solve Fermat's last
theorem.[134]
"The Proof" – Nova (PBS) documentary about Andrew Wiles's proof of
Fermat's Last Theorem.
On August 17, 2011, a Google doodle was shown on the Google homepage,
showing a blackboard with the theorem on it. When hovered over, it displays the
text "I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this theorem, which this
doodle is too small to contain." This is a reference to the note made by
Fermat in the margins of Arithmetica. It commemorated the 410th birth
anniversary of de Fermat.[135]
In the book The Girl Who Played with Fire, main character Lisbeth Salander
becomes obsessed with the theorem in the opening chapters of the book. Her
continuing effort to come up with a proof on her own is a running sub-plot
throughout the story, and is used as a way to demonstrate her exceptional
intelligence. In the end she comes up with a proof (the actual proof is not
featured in the book). But after being shot in the head and surviving, she
has lost the proof.
In the Harold Ramis re-make of the movie Bedazzled, starring Brendan Fraser
and Elizabeth Hurley, Fermat's Last Theorem appears written on the
chalkboard in the classroom that the protagonist Elliot finds himself
teleported
to after he aborts his failed fourth wish. In the director's commentary for
the DVD release, director Ramis comments that nobody has seemed to notice
that the equation on the board is Fermat's Last Theorem.
In Doctor Who, Season 5 Episode 1 "The Eleventh Hour", the Doctor transmits
a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by typing it in just a few seconds on
Jeff's laptop to prove his genius to a collection of world leaders discussing
the latest threat to the human race. This implies that the Doctor knew a
proof which was quite short and easy for others to comprehend.
In The IT Crowd, Series 3 Episode 6 "Calendar Geeks" Fermat's Last Theorem
is referenced during a photo shoot for a calendar about geeks and
achievements in Science and Mathematics.
The song "Bizarro Genius Baby" by MC Frontalot contains the lyrics "And no
dust had settled when she’d disproved Fermat by finding A3 + B3 that = C3".
In the manga and anime series of Zatch Bell! one of the questions from the
gatekeeper Unko Tintin was to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. The lead
protagonist managed to avoid it by asking whether Unko Tintin could answer it
himself, which he could not.
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