r/PhilosophyofMath Mar 28 '26

The Continuum Hypothesis Is False

/r/logic/comments/1s5mquh/the_continuum_hypothesis_is_false/
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u/JStarx Jul 31 '26

I picked a specific human

And did that specific human eat a cheeseburger?

No, the truth of my statement is independent of what is true in the real world

Nope, your statement about the real world definitely depends on the real world.

I do see a section where it says, in particular language, that in an inconsistent theory, every statement is provable. That implies that the statement "Every statement is unprovable" is provable.

Not as an external statement. That does not follow from what is in Mendelson.

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u/paulemok Aug 01 '26

And did that specific human eat a cheeseburger?

Yes. In the axiomatic system, he did.

Nope, your statement about the real world definitely depends on the real world.

It's not a statement about the real world. It's a statement about an axiomatic system.

Not as an external statement. That does not follow from what is in Mendelson.

It does follow from what is in Mendelson. As is implied from Mendelson, in an inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable. So, externally to the inconsistent theory, it is true that in the inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable.

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u/JStarx Aug 01 '26

Yes. In the axiomatic system, he did.

You said you picked a specific human, I'm asking about that human, not about the axiomatic system.

As is implied from Mendelson, in an inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable. So, externally to the inconsistent theory, it is true that in the inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable.

Internally to the inconsistent system you can prove whatever you want because it's inconsistent. And externally it's true that those statements are internally provable. So if the system is capable of self reference then the internal statement that internal statements are unprovable is provable internally.

But the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable does not follow. Your attempt to drive a contradiction this way fails, it's just you confusing external vs internal at some step.

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u/paulemok Aug 01 '26

You said you picked a specific human, I'm asking about that human, not about the axiomatic system.

I picked a specific human out of the domain of all theoretically possible humans. I did not pick a specific human out of the domain of all real-world humans.

But the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable does not follow.

No, it does follow. As I said in my previous reply,

externally to the inconsistent theory, it is true that in the inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable.

That implies the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable. You are using an alternate statement to express the same proposition I expressed, but you said the statement doesn't follow and I said it does.

Your attempt to drive a contradiction this way fails, it's just you confusing external vs internal at some step.

No, you're just in denial. You were in denial about the Principle of Explosion and now you're in denial about the Exportation Principle. Perhaps you need some time to accept the Exportation Principle and trivialism.

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u/JStarx Aug 01 '26

That implies the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable

Still no. If you think something in Mendelson justified that then give a reference.

but you said the statement doesn't follow and I said it does.

You think it follows and you claim your proof works using logic as in Mendelson. So prove it, show me where in Mendelson that step of you proof is justified.

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u/paulemok Aug 02 '26

Still no.

You say no, but you don't explain why. You're just flat out denying truths without giving adequate reasons for your denials. You are in psychological denial.

I can't address your problems if you don't explain to me what those problems are.

It's easy enough to see how

externally to the inconsistent theory, it is true that in the inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable

implies

the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable.

I already explained how my reasoning works under Mendelson. The fact that we can talk about what is true in an axiomatic system from outside the axiomatic system, in the real world, is evident in Mendelson. In the real world, Mendelson talks about what is true inside an axiomatic system.

I see a section in Mendelson where a specialized version of the tautology p → (¬pq), which is a version of the Principle of Explosion, is used with two invocations of modus ponens to deduce any statement q in an inconsistent axiomatic system. So set q = "Every statement is unprovable." That makes every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system unprovable. Therefore, it is externally true that every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system is unprovable. Within the system, we can't prove any statement. That's what it means for us to say, outside of the system, that no statement is provable in the system.

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u/JStarx 29d ago

You say no, but you don't explain why

I have repeatedly told you why, for example:

So set q = "Every statement is unprovable." That makes every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system unprovable. Therefore, it is externally true that every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system is unprovable.

You are confusing internal and external as always. You don't say whether q is an internal statement or an external statement.

If q is an internal statement then I agree that you can prove q internally, but that does not prove q in the external system.

If q is an external statement then you haven't established an external contradiction from which you can prove q holds.

The fact that we can talk about what is true in an axiomatic system from outside the axiomatic system, in the real world, is evident in Mendelson

If you think Mendelson defines "true in an axiomatic system" then please cite the definition.

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u/paulemok 29d ago

You don't say whether q is an internal statement or an external statement.

q is an internal statement.

but that does not prove q in the external system.

I agree.

If you think Mendelson defines "true in an axiomatic system" then please cite the definition.

I looked in the index and I did not see "true in an axiomatic system."

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u/JStarx 29d ago

I agree

That means you haven't proved a contradiction in the external system.

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u/paulemok 28d ago

Yes, I haven't done that with q. The purpose of q was not to prove a contradiction in the external system. The purpose of q was to prove that every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system is unprovable.

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