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

From: Chris Menzel (cmenzel_at_remove-this.tamu.edu)
Date: 08/11/04 

Date: 11 Aug 2004 17:30:46 GMT

On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 15:51:23 +0000 (UTC), Simon G Best
<s.g.best@btopenworld.com> said:
> Although I said I intended not to respond anymore, I am failing to
> resist the temptation to respond.

An experience many of us are familiar with. What is it exactly about
Olcott that seems to compel a response? Initially, I thought he was a
reasonably intelligent fellow who had gotten himself bollixed up
conceptually and just needed to be unconfused via some clear and simple
explanations. So initial motivations were pedagogical. Reasonable
people with some modest amount of expertise about a certain topic
generally enjoy helping others who want to learn something about that
topic to understand it. Sadly, Olcott has since amply demonstrated that
he is unable to grasp the most elementary points of the theory of
computability. Notably, he still doesn't understand what a Turing
Machine is, what it is for a TM to compute a function, etc, and
consequently the little proof of the unsolvability of the Halting
Problem is simply over his head. Yet, with rather breathtaking hubris
(or something), he continues to claim he's solved the Halting Problem,
to do something that has been proved impossible. So now the compulsion
to respond to him seems driven more by something like a sense of moral
outrage or, at least, moral duty -- as when a liar or doctrinaire hack
slanders someone whose character you know to be impeccable.

Unfortunately, arguing with liars and hacks is pointless. Best simply
to state the facts and point to the documentation for the sake of
interested bystanders in danger of being misled and walk away. To wit:
There is an elementary proof that the Halting Problem is unsolvable (one
version: http://tinyurl.com/6ow6c). Olcott claims to have solved it.
So he's obviously wrong, hence obviously confused (or a pathologically
brilliant troll).

Chris Menzel

Relevant Pages

  • Re: What is the Result from Invoking this Halt Function?
    ... Olcott that seems to compel a response? ... outrage or, at least, moral duty -- as when a liar or doctrinaire hack ... There is an elementary proof that the Halting Problem is unsolvable (one ...
    (comp.theory)
  • Re: Yet another Attempt at Disproving the Halting Problem
    ... to try to convince Peter Olcott that there's *no* general solution to ... being astounded at the spectacular stubbornness of the likes of Olcott. ... about things like The Halting Problem. ... the space race. ...
    (comp.theory)
  • Re: Yet another Attempt at Disproving the Halting Problem
    ... to try to convince Peter Olcott that there's *no* general solution to ... being astounded at the spectacular stubbornness of the likes of Olcott. ... about things like The Halting Problem. ... the space race. ...
    (sci.logic)
  • Re: Comparing Proofs of Rossers 1936 Theorem
    ... I thought # 2 was shorter, simpler, doesn't involve knowing the proof ... that the Halting Problem is unsolvable, ... with my criteria for a suitable formalization completely. ... a liar", or something similar. ...
    (sci.logic)
  • Re: Can a regular Turing Machine provide Protected Memory?
    ... > The halting problem is a decision problem which can be informally stated ... > Given a description of an algorithm and its initial input, ... Olcott has been trumpeting that he's found a flaw in Turing's proof. ... on a Turing machine, and on Turing machines detecting the context in which ...
    (comp.theory)