Re: What is the Result from Invoking this Halt Function?

From: David C. Ullrich (ullrich_at_math.okstate.edu)
Date: 08/09/04 

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 06:43:28 -0500

On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 17:04:02 GMT, "Peter Olcott"
<olcott@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

>
>"David C. Ullrich" <ullrich@math.okstate.edu> wrote in message news:okmch0hamumqvgmmd8113r3cu9l8l33r1k@4ax.com...
>> On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 15:20:06 GMT, "Peter Olcott"
>> <olcott@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>> >> >A simple convention of a three valued Boolean can be easily derived:
>> >> >1 = true, 0 = false, -1 = ImNotTellingYou
>> >>
>> >> But a solution to the halting problem is a program that always returns
>> >> 0 or 1, by definition. If you introduce a third return value, then you
>> >> aren't solving the halting problem.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Daryl McCullough
>> >> Ithaca, NY
>> >>
>> >
>> >Wrong. The solution to the Halting Problem ids any method that refutes this definition.
>> >No program can ever be written to determine whether any arbitrary program will halt
>>
>> for heaven's sake, saying 'imnottellingyou' counts as -answering- a
>> question?
>
>The halt analyzer is not required to answer every question that is ever
>asked no matter who is doing the asking. It only has to be able to correctly
>answer this question for every arbitrary program.

that's right. and saying imnotgoingtotellyou is not answering the
question.

>iff it does the latter,
>thenn the above definition of the Halting Problem has been refuted.
>
>>
>> >http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/haltingProblem.html
>> >
>>
>>
>> ************************
>>
>> David C. Ullrich
>>
>> sorry about the inelegant formatting - typing
>> one-handed for a few weeks...
>

************************

David C. Ullrich

sorry about the inelegant formatting - typing
one-handed for a few weeks...

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