Re: Am I a crank?

In article <1157024892.614341.149030@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
schoenfeld.one@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Lester Zick wrote:
On 30 Aug 2006 05:01:52 -0700, schoenfeld.one@xxxxxxxxx wrote:


Han de Bruijn wrote:
schoenfeld.one@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Then there is no experiementation. Mathematics is not an experimental
science, it is not even a science. The principle of falsifiability does
not apply.

Any even number > 2 is the sum of two prime numbers. Now suppose that I
find just _one_ huge number for which this (well-known) conjecture does
_not_ hold. By mere number crunching. Isn't that an application of the
"principle of falsifiability" to mathematics?

Falsifiability does not _need_ to apply in mathematics. In math,
statements can be true without their being a proof of it being true.
Likewise, they can be false.

Except apparently for definitions.

Definitions can be false too (i.e. "Let x be an even odd").

That definition is not false, as it does not say that any such thing
exists. Nor is it true. It is merely impossible to fulfill.
.

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