Re: Can you find anything wrong with this solution to the Halting Problem?

From: George Greene (greeneg_at_greeneg-cs.cs.unc.edu)
Date: 07/18/04 

Date: 18 Jul 2004 17:19:52 -0400

"Peter Olcott" <olcott@worldnet.att.net> writes:
 : I have correctly refuted the Halting Problem according

No, you have not. That the Halting Problem has "no solution"
is something that was proved WHEN THE PROBLEM WAS DEFINED AND
STATED. Your confirming that it has no solution is NOT
"refuting" anything. In order to "refute" it, you would have
to come up with a TM that IS WillHalt, or with a program
that CAN determine whether an arbitrary program halts.

 : to the standard defitnion below:
 :
 : The NIST definition of the Halting Problem is assumed:
 : http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/haltingProblem.html
 : No program can ever be written to determine whether any arbitrary program will halt

This is true, and this is EXACTLY WHAT THE ORIGINAL HALTING PROBLEM
SAYS, and you have NOT refuted this, OR the original halting problem.

However, its truth DOES at least somewhat depend on the first occurrence
of "program" denoting EXACTLY the SAME class of entities as the latter one.
And it further requires your meaning by "program" something that's well-
defined and at least basically algorithmic. 

-- 
 --- The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal.
 --- (Feb.3,2004) Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (4-3), adv.Sen.#2175

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Solution to the halting Problem?
    ... >> The authors misinterpretation of the halting problem seems to ... LoopIfHaltsto function does not refute this method. ... One single case where the security is not ... that causes the WillHaltmethod to fail, and then says that this is not ...
    (comp.lang.cpp)
  • Re: Yet another Attempt at Disproving the Halting Problem
    ... > result to the function being analyzed, and you leap to the stupid ... > you expect to refute me if you don't even know what i am saying ??? ... No one has to read your silly bumbling at the URL noted to refute you. ... You have claimed both that the proof of the halting problem is flawed ...
    (comp.theory)
  • Re: Yet another Attempt at Disproving the Halting Problem
    ... > result to the function being analyzed, and you leap to the stupid ... > you expect to refute me if you don't even know what i am saying ??? ... No one has to read your silly bumbling at the URL noted to refute you. ... You have claimed both that the proof of the halting problem is flawed ...
    (sci.logic)
  • Re: Can you find anything wrong with this solution to the Halting Problem?
    ... >> halting problem. ... >My counter-example attempts to directly refute this statement. ... That's exactly the statement that led to my "huh". ... making access to the key impossible is simply _irrelevant_. ...
    (sci.logic)
  • Re: Disproof of the Halting Problems Conclusion
    ... |> To show that the Halting Problem Conclusion has not ... |> In order to refute the Halting Problem conclusion ... You believe you have proved the existence of WillHaltPO. ... Is your rng software based? ...
    (sci.logic)