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From: cyanide <ojw@stopspamiinet.net.au>
Subject: Drifting further off topic....
Date: 1998/02/10
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> Well, you might have argued about the use of computers to "prove"
> mathematical theorems using a brute-force approach, e.g., the map
> coloring theorem. The debate over what constitues a proof in human
> terms is really quite fascinating. For example, if a computer "proves"
>
> a theorem which no human being could prove simply because of the sheer
>
> bulk of computation required, has that theorem been proven? How can we
>
> know? Are we redefining truth as a thing of consensus? Perhaps we will
>
> eventually define truth as something beyond the grasp of a mere human
> being. Perhaps we will relegate truth to the machine. Hey, don't we
> already do that?

If you have time, you should read the science fiction "Gap Series" by
Steven Donaldson. One of the characters is a guy called Hashi Lebwol, a
man interested only in facts, to whom truth was inconsequential.

Oliver White

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