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Article 2457 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: smoliar@hilbert.iss.nus.sg (stephen smoliar)
Subject: Re: Pour-El and Richards say some things, don't say other things
Message-ID: <1991Dec31.093416.18209@nuscc.nus.sg>
Summary: there is more to mathematics than SATZ-BEWEISS
Sender: usenet@nuscc.nus.sg
Reply-To: smoliar@iss.nus.sg (stephen smoliar)
Organization: Institute of Systems Science, NUS, Singapore
References: <1991Dec28.194855.16543@galois.mit.edu> <61146@netnews.upenn.edu> <OZ.91Dec29170330@ursa.sis.yorku.ca>
Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1991 09:34:16 GMT

In article <OZ.91Dec29170330@ursa.sis.yorku.ca> oz@ursa.sis.yorku.ca (Ozan
Yigit) writes:
>weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) writes:
>
>   Where *does* this mathematical intuition of ours come from?  I don't see
>   any TM model that accounts for this.
>
>*What* mathematical intuition? Give an example. Is there a mathematical
>statement without proof whose truth is explained simply by mathematical
>intuition?
>
You seem to think that all there is to mathematics is the statement of proofs
of theorems.  Before you can have theorems, you need to have conjectures.
Where do you think those conjectures come from, if not from mathematical
intuition?  Do you think brilliant mathematicians just blindly chase down
search paths of new ways to make well-formed expressions of their symbols?
-- 
Stephen W. Smoliar; Institute of Systems Science
National University of Singapore; Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Kent Ridge, SINGAPORE 0511
Internet:  smoliar@iss.nus.sg


