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I know that I've seen an example of a statement of the form ##\forall n~P(n)## (where the scope of the "for all" is the set of positive integers) that can be proved, but can't be proved by induction. I thought I had seen it in one of Roger Penrose's books, but I have looked for it and wasn't able to find it. Maybe I saw it on some web page. I'm pretty sure that Penrose was involved somehow. The example defines a sequence for each positive integer. Each of the sequences starts out growing absurdly fast, and at an increasing rate, and it's clear that each sequence will continue to grow for a long time. But, if I remember correctly, the claim that you can't prove by induction, is that in each sequence, all but a finite number of terms are zero.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I would like to look at that example again. If you know any other fun examples of when induction fails, I'd be interested in them as well.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I would like to look at that example again. If you know any other fun examples of when induction fails, I'd be interested in them as well.
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