alt Hacker News> mathematics isn't just a giant machine of deductive statements
I know HN can be volatile sometimes, but I sincerely want to hear more about these parts of math that are not pure deductive reasoning.
Do you just mean that we must assume something to get the ball rolling, or what?
Replies
pxc • last Friday at 11:59 PM
For one, some geometric proofs by construction can literally involve pictures rather than statements, right?
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variaga • last Saturday at 3:39 AM
>Do you just mean that we must assume something to get the ball rolling
They're called "axioms"
I think the point was that it's not a machine.
Stuff that we can deduce in math with common sense, geometric intuition, etc. can be incredibly difficult to formalize so that a machine can do it.