Recent content by deimors

The problem appears to be that, for any language sufficient enough to describe all the propositions we'd want to create, there does not exist a set of axioms which could prove every proposition (Gödel's incompleteness theorem). By restricting the descriptive power of a language in order to...

Quite the opposite really... when one disproves a hypothesis, one has eliminated one of the various possibilities, thus narrowing down the "truth". When one finds evidence verifying a hypothesis, especially a universally quantified one (such as "all particles exhibit property X"), which are...

The problem I see with with b) is that it seems at least plausible to consider that there's a linear relation between a number n and the number of syllables in the smallest possible description of n (say, S(n)). Further, one must consider what can be used as a description of a number. Obviously...

Not entirely, as 'the same number that cannot be described in 20 syllables' is 16 syllables long, and so this isn't a contradictory description of the number being described. Although, this could turn out true if one held the premises that a) all descriptions which describe nothing (physical /...

What is 'the least number which cannot be described in less than nineteen syllables'? Is this not a description of it, only 18 syllables long?

Karl Popper hypothesized that the ability to disprove a theorem (what he calls falsifiability) is one of the conditions of demarcation; namely, a condition by which a theorem can be tested for it's being scientific or not. Thus a theorem which is logically necessary (unable to be false in any...

There are many theologies which look at the moon as a factor in our lives. However, I'm confused as to how this has any bearing on philosophy. A system of beliefs is not philosophy, inasmuch as astrology is not science. Perhaps one of the better definitions I've read is that philosophy is "[t]he...

Hrmm... I can understand why gays in the maths and sciences wouldn't exactly want to let people know. Just look at what happened to Alan Turing.

yea, I suppose I did mean phoenix :] I guess that illustrates an interesting point, though, as you were able to understand the meaning of what I said despite the mis-reference. However, this is understanding and meaning in the sense of a shared social reference, rather than understanding in...

Understanding is an illusion, but a pragmatic one at that. What we experience, we know we have experienced, but when we embellish meaning upon experience, we lose truth. However, man (in the most gender-neutral sense) craves meaning, desires answers, and upon their creation we believe we...

Thanks for the reply, I suppose I should point out that I'm dealing with hydraulics, rather than pneumatics as you appear to have interpreted the situation. Whereas there's a nice linear relation between surface area and load when dealing with situations creating positive relative pressure...

morality is a quantification of the universe, whereas spirituality is our connection to the universe.

We seem to prefer symmetry in our theoretical entities simply because we find so much symmetry all around us, and there's a certain aesthetic to anything symmetrical. Is there any more validity in symmetric rather than asymmetric, simple rather than complex? I tend to think not, but there is...

Hi, I've been trying to figure out a formula which describes the relation between the area, load and negative psig of the vacuum created in a vertical cylinder with the top port plugged and the bottom draining to tank (fig 1). I searched around for a formula describing this, and upon having...