incompleteness theorem (was: gun control)

[Lisa & Ian Murray]

Godel's first proof of the completeness and consistency of bivalent,
deductive logic leaves out constructing any theory of numbers or arithmetic;
so nothing formally precludes the writing of an internally coherent and
"self-consistent" constitution.  He claimed, in front of the judge no less,
that the US constitutional system could, in fact, lead to fascism.  G. had
many arguments with Einstein over this issue and went pretty ballistic when
the judge swearing him in suggested that "it can't happen here".

Looks like G. was right.....

Ian Murray


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Wojtek Sokolowski
> Sent: Monday, May 24, 1999 6:48 AM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: incompleteness theorem (was: gun control)
>
>
> At 06:18 PM 5/21/99 -0400, Barkely Rosser wrote:
> >    I just read both an article in _Scientific American_
> >and a book review in _Mathematical Intelligencer_ on
> >a new biography of the mathematical logician, Kurt
> >Godel, he of the famous Incompleteness Theorem.
> >Apparently when he was examined to become a US
> >citizen in the late 1940s (Albert Einstein and Oskar
> >Morgenstern were present to shepherd the extreme
> >eccentric genius through), they had to repress him from
> >making an extended speech about contradictions in the
> >US constitution that he perceived when the examining
> >judge asked him what he thought of that particular document.
>
>
> That is somewhat strange.  Isn't it what his incompleteness theorem would
> predict?  That is, it is impossible to construct a logically coherent
> system a la constitional law (i.e. you would find mutually contradicting
> statements or principles that are logically derived from the "axioms" i.e.
> constitutional law; btw. Kenneth Arrow demonstrated that contradiction in
> the rat choice model of social organization in a more systematic way).
>
> In other words, such contradictions are old news, so why ranting about
> them, and piss the crypto nazis at the INS.  I was stupid enough
> to do that
> (i.e. refused to agree to serve in the US Army on ethical grounds) - and
> what followed warrants a separate story.
>
> wojtek
>