MetaFilter posts tagged with logic and mathematics

Nature of Mathematical Truth

Gyan — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 10:24:24 -0800

Gödel and the Nature of Mathematical Truth : A Talk with Verena Huber-Dyson

You can't prove this title wasn't an attempt to illustrate Godel

Gyan — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 02:59:04 -0800

Godel's theorems have been used to extrapolate a great many "truths" about the world. Torkel Franzen sets the record straight in his new book Godel's Theorem: An Incomplete Guide to Its Use and Abuse. Read the introduction (PDF). If you want, check out his explanation of the theorems.

The Complexity of a Controversial Concept

kliuless — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 18:03:37 -0800

The Logic of Diversity "A new book, The Wisdom of Crowds [..:] by The New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki, has recently popularized the idea that groups can, in some ways, be smarter than their members, which is superficially similar to Page's results. While Surowiecki gives many examples of what one might call collective cognition, where groups out-perform isolated individuals, he really has only one explanation for this phenomenon, based on one of his examples: jelly beans [...] averaging together many independent, unbiased guesses gives a result that is probably closer to the truth than any one guess. While true — it's the central limit theorem of statistics — it's far from being the only way in which diversity can be beneficial in problem solving." (Three-Toed Sloth)

To “have the privilege of walking home with Gödel.”

thatwhichfalls — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 13:12:55 -0800

“Gödel put logic on the mathematical map.”
An excellent interview with Rebecca Goldstein, biographer of Kurt Godel

Shadowkeeper — Fri, 25 May 2001 10:22:29 -0800

What Color is My Hat? I [heart] these mathematical conundrums -- simple, easy-to-state, seemingly obvious logic problems that have solutions that completely defy common sense. Here's another you can spring on a friend: "You want to fry up three pieces of french toast. You have a frying pan that is just large enough to accomodate two pieces of bread at a time. If it takes you 30 seconds to fry one side of bread, and each piece of must be fried on both sides, how long will it take you to cook up three pieces (assuming that the act of flipping a piece or adding/ removing it to or from the pan takes no time). Think about it. Answer inside.