It is perfectly valid in math to prove that something does not exist. For example, there are no positive integers {a,b,c} such that a^3 + b^3 = c^3
This is a direct result of Wiles (1994) proof of Fermats Last Theorem.
Now there are also a different class of assertions that cannot be proved either way. (Godels Incompleteness Theorem)
I am digressing a lot here, but if you find this sort of thing interesting, i suggest reading 'Godel, Escher, Bach' by Hofsteadter (spelling?)
...prepare to hurt your brain :)
Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
Please read these before you post! —
Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
- a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
|
For: |
|
Use: |
| & | | & |
| < | | < |
| > | | > |
| [ | | [ |
| ] | | ] |
Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.