It's tragic...


...because it happens so often.

[edit] just noticed that this is my 300th post... hooray for me...

From the 1950s Government Warnings challenge. See all 378 entries (closed)

( Mystery_Bob, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 18:58, archived)

is
that how old bertie russell carked it?
( freshlegs, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:01, archived)

Wasn't he driven nuts
by Godel?
(cattleprod, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:03, archived)

wouldn't surprise me
Gödel drove me nuts!
( freshlegs, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:07, archived)

Hehe
and if you get a philosopher in yer cab, no tip no fare. Wide-headed cnut
(cattleprod, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:08, archived)

was he the fella who
proved you can't prove everything? or was that soeone else?
( stouffer, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:36, archived)

weren't that
heisenberg? what with his uncertainty principle and all
( bananaman, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:38, archived)

nah, the
uncertainty principle just tells you about things in motion. i think it was godel who proved that in any axiomatic system you can't actually prove everything, i.e. there is no proof that parallel lines never meet, you just have to accept as part of the definition. or something. but it may not have been him.

edit: freshlegs, look up here. cheers.
( stouffer, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:42, archived)

ah but the uncertainty principle says
that for any subatomic particle, the more you know about the momentum of a particle, the less you can know about its position, and hence you cannot know both.
( bananaman, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:45, archived)

mind you
i have no idea what i'm on about.
( bananaman, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:47, archived)

ok, according to freshlegs
he did, and i that's fair enough.

but i still maintain that in another way, the uncertainty principle also says that you cannot know everything.
( bananaman, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:51, archived)

surely...
...that would be impossible to prove. By definition. Or something... my brain hurts.
( Mystery_Bob, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:39, archived)

no
you can prove that. but by prooving that you prove that you can't prove something else.
( bananaman, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:41, archived)

but then...
if you can't prove... then surely... but...

*falls to the floor convulsing as brain implodes*
( Mystery_Bob, Sat 16 Nov 2002, 19:43, archived)