Gödel’s Theorems

Godel proved mathematically that reason is limited in scope, even its heartland of mathematical reasoning about numbers. We cannot use it to solve the greater mysteries of life. PUblished in EXPRESS TRIBUNE 12 April 2015

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Gödel’s Theorems & the Limits of Reason

Dr. Asad Zaman

Gödel’s theorems on the incompleteness and undecidability of mathematical systems are among the deepest and most significant discoveries of the twentieth century. They represent a dramatic failure of one of the fondest hopes of European Enlightenment philosophers. This was their core faith that all human knowledge can be obtained by using observations and logic; in particular, revelation, tradition, and received wisdom are nothing but an accretion of superstitions which must be discarded to make progress. Our goal in this essay is to explain how Gödel’s results represent a mathematical tombstone for these hopes.

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