On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 7:55 PM, Robert J. Cordingley <rob...@cirrillian.com> wrote: > Shouldn't theorems be independent of arbitrary decisions regarding what is > or is not a prime number? Otherwise I'll have to believe that > mathematicians are just making up stuff.
Of course its all "made up". What do you think an axiom is? I'm being a bit cynical, but the various arbitrary starting points from which all theorems derive are the end-products of a millennia-long "natural selection" process. Even the concept of "number" could, in theory, be totally re-written, but at this point, it would be mostly a pointless act of rebellion. If you want a great read on the subject, see Gregory Chaitin. mark ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
