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Paradox

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  • M Marc Clifton

    EricDV wrote:

    would so easily brush this aside

    Partly I'm being flippant. Partly not.

    EricDV wrote:

    Bertrand Russell was a pretty bright guy.

    Yes, but it's an artificial problem that enforces a paradox because of its constraints. The paradox is easily avoided if you create a new class that is the union of X and N (from the website). And that's partly what programming and problem solving is all about--resolving constraints so you can get out of the paradox. IMO, Russell's paradox falls into the category of philosophical issues, something you see high school students entertaining themselves with, before they get girlfriends and a real life. So, am I being flippant or not? Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

    E Offline
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    Eric Dahlvang
    wrote on last edited by
    #11

    Marc Clifton wrote:

    philosophical issues, something you see high school students entertaining themselves with, before they get girlfriends and a real life.

    I'm no longer in high school. And when I was, I wasn't thinking about stuff like this. Apparently you think philosophy is immature. I disagree.

    Marc Clifton wrote:

    So, am I being flippant or not?

    I think so. But, it wouldn't be as much fun if we all enjoyed the same things. So go ahead. Somone said: We don't stop having fun when we're old; we're old when we stop having fun. ---------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters

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    • C code frog 0

      Marc Clifton wrote:

      I'm working on that article, it's just going sloooow.

      It must be catching. I'm having the same problem. I launched an internal website a few days ago and the clients keep wanting me to change certain things. * We want all users to be able to access X. ... * Oops no we don't. We only want these users to access X. ... * Well, now all the users who cannot access X want to know if they can get a Y to access. ... Loopus Infinitus :sigh:


      If we all used the Plain English compiler every post in the lounge would be a programming question.:cool:
      Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.

      People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog. The act of using CPhog alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)

      V Offline
      V Offline
      V 0
      wrote on last edited by
      #12

      Seems like your everyday average client :) Coulda, woulda, shoulda doesn't matter if you don't. :beer:
      :jig:

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      • V V 0

        Seems like your everyday average client :) Coulda, woulda, shoulda doesn't matter if you don't. :beer:
        :jig:

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        C Offline
        code frog 0
        wrote on last edited by
        #13

        True enough.:-D


        If we all used the Plain English compiler every post in the lounge would be a programming question.:cool:
        Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.

        People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog. The act of using CPhog alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • E Eric Dahlvang

          Marc Clifton wrote:

          philosophical issues, something you see high school students entertaining themselves with, before they get girlfriends and a real life.

          I'm no longer in high school. And when I was, I wasn't thinking about stuff like this. Apparently you think philosophy is immature. I disagree.

          Marc Clifton wrote:

          So, am I being flippant or not?

          I think so. But, it wouldn't be as much fun if we all enjoyed the same things. So go ahead. Somone said: We don't stop having fun when we're old; we're old when we stop having fun. ---------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters

          R Offline
          R Offline
          Red Stateler
          wrote on last edited by
          #14

          I don't think it's even philosophical because it's a self-enforced restraint. You're defining the table as listing all self-referencing tables. You could just as easily define it as a table that lists all self-referencing tables besides itself. It's just like saying, "I am sitting and yet I'm not!" and claiming it's some sort of profound paradox. It's not...It's just dumb.

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          • R Red Stateler

            I don't think it's even philosophical because it's a self-enforced restraint. You're defining the table as listing all self-referencing tables. You could just as easily define it as a table that lists all self-referencing tables besides itself. It's just like saying, "I am sitting and yet I'm not!" and claiming it's some sort of profound paradox. It's not...It's just dumb.

            E Offline
            E Offline
            Eric Dahlvang
            wrote on last edited by
            #15

            espeir wrote:

            all self-referencing tables besides itself

            all and besides are mutually exclusive

            espeir wrote:

            claiming it's some sort of profound paradox. It's not...It's just dumb.

            That is insulting. ---------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters

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            • E Eric Dahlvang

              espeir wrote:

              all self-referencing tables besides itself

              all and besides are mutually exclusive

              espeir wrote:

              claiming it's some sort of profound paradox. It's not...It's just dumb.

              That is insulting. ---------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters

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              R Offline
              Red Stateler
              wrote on last edited by
              #16

              EricDV wrote:

              all and besides are mutually exclusive

              That's the point...You're inventing the "all" constraint when it's not necessary since you're the one defining the table.

              EricDV wrote:

              That is insulting.

              A duel then!

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              • R Red Stateler

                EricDV wrote:

                all and besides are mutually exclusive

                That's the point...You're inventing the "all" constraint when it's not necessary since you're the one defining the table.

                EricDV wrote:

                That is insulting.

                A duel then!

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                Eric Dahlvang
                wrote on last edited by
                #17

                espeir wrote:

                you're the one defining the table

                Sure the paradox can be avoided by redefining the table’s structure. However, it is conceptually impossible to have a complete list of tables in a database that are not self-referencing because of the paradox. If this is uninteresting to you, then fine. Don’t waste your time stopping to tell me about it. Go on about your day, and leave me in my own little world of dumbness.

                espeir wrote:

                A duel then!

                I'm not looking for trouble. I'm just trying to have a good time. ---------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters

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                • M Marc Clifton

                  EricDV wrote:

                  would so easily brush this aside

                  Partly I'm being flippant. Partly not.

                  EricDV wrote:

                  Bertrand Russell was a pretty bright guy.

                  Yes, but it's an artificial problem that enforces a paradox because of its constraints. The paradox is easily avoided if you create a new class that is the union of X and N (from the website). And that's partly what programming and problem solving is all about--resolving constraints so you can get out of the paradox. IMO, Russell's paradox falls into the category of philosophical issues, something you see high school students entertaining themselves with, before they get girlfriends and a real life. So, am I being flippant or not? Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

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                  D Offline
                  David Stone
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #18

                  Marc Clifton wrote:

                  IMO, Russell's paradox falls into the category of philosophical issues, something you see high school students entertaining themselves with, before they get girlfriends and a real life.

                  High school students? No. University students? Yes. We've been dealing with this in my theory of computability class. It's not even really a philosophical thing. It has direct application to what can and cannot be computed.

                  Once you wanted revolution
                  Now you're the institution
                  How's it feel to be the man?

                  M 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • R Red Stateler

                    I don't think it's even philosophical because it's a self-enforced restraint. You're defining the table as listing all self-referencing tables. You could just as easily define it as a table that lists all self-referencing tables besides itself. It's just like saying, "I am sitting and yet I'm not!" and claiming it's some sort of profound paradox. It's not...It's just dumb.

                    A Offline
                    A Offline
                    Andy Brummer
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #19

                    I guess you consider this just dumb. :doh: Some consider it the most important mathematical theorem of the twentieth century. Godel's theorem[^]


                    I can imagine the sinking feeling one would have after ordering my book, only to find a laughably ridiculous theory with demented logic once the book arrives - Mark McCutcheon

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                    • R Red Stateler

                      I don't think it's even philosophical because it's a self-enforced restraint. You're defining the table as listing all self-referencing tables. You could just as easily define it as a table that lists all self-referencing tables besides itself. It's just like saying, "I am sitting and yet I'm not!" and claiming it's some sort of profound paradox. It's not...It's just dumb.

                      D Offline
                      D Offline
                      David Stone
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #20

                      Just because you're ignorant with respect to how something like Russell's paradox is applicable to what you do each and every day does not make it dumb. And calling it that only reinforces your ignorance in the face of others.

                      Once you wanted revolution
                      Now you're the institution
                      How's it feel to be the man?

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • D David Stone

                        Marc Clifton wrote:

                        IMO, Russell's paradox falls into the category of philosophical issues, something you see high school students entertaining themselves with, before they get girlfriends and a real life.

                        High school students? No. University students? Yes. We've been dealing with this in my theory of computability class. It's not even really a philosophical thing. It has direct application to what can and cannot be computed.

                        Once you wanted revolution
                        Now you're the institution
                        How's it feel to be the man?

                        M Offline
                        M Offline
                        Marc Clifton
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #21

                        David Stone wrote:

                        We've been dealing with this in my theory of computability class. It's not even really a philosophical thing. It has direct application to what can and cannot be computed.

                        I had an inclining that that might be so, but I'm curious, what's a real world example? Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

                        D 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • M Marc Clifton

                          David Stone wrote:

                          We've been dealing with this in my theory of computability class. It's not even really a philosophical thing. It has direct application to what can and cannot be computed.

                          I had an inclining that that might be so, but I'm curious, what's a real world example? Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

                          D Offline
                          D Offline
                          David Stone
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #22

                          Russell's paradox was used by Turing to prove that the Halting problem was undecidable. That's the most well known application. Essentially, Turing proved that wecan't develop a general purpose algorithm to prove that a machine will not go into an infinite loop. Here's some more about the Halting Problem[^]. The other major application, that Andy already mentioned earlier, being Gödel's incompleteness theorems[^].

                          Once you wanted revolution
                          Now you're the institution
                          How's it feel to be the man?

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • M Marc Clifton

                            David Stone wrote:

                            We've been dealing with this in my theory of computability class. It's not even really a philosophical thing. It has direct application to what can and cannot be computed.

                            I had an inclining that that might be so, but I'm curious, what's a real world example? Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

                            D Offline
                            D Offline
                            David Stone
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #23

                            Here. I found a really good explanation of it. (I'm not even sure how I found this now. I've been following links around the web for the better part of an hour now.) This PDF[^], which, I believe is an except from this book[^], written by this prof. at Berkeley[^]. The Part about Turing is down on page 3, but if you've never read about Godel, then you might want to start at the beginning. I especially love this quote:

                            And when we saw the computer, when we saw its code - and Turing saw it first - we were looking at complexity incarnate. And then suddenly we saw complexity everywhere. It materialized, it crystalized around us - even though it had always been there. We have yet to recover from the shock.

                            Once you wanted revolution
                            Now you're the institution
                            How's it feel to be the man?

                            M 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • E Eric Dahlvang

                              Should the database table that keeps track of all tables that are not self-referencing contain a reference to itself? If it does, then it should not. If it does not, then it should. Adapted from Bertrand Russell's paradox: here[^]

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                              C Offline
                              Chris Maunder
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #24

                              That's why mathematicians invented Class Theory. Do a course in Class Theory and if you survive with your brain still inside your head then you've done well. It's the reason mathematicians don't need drugs. cheers, Chris Maunder

                              CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • D David Stone

                                Here. I found a really good explanation of it. (I'm not even sure how I found this now. I've been following links around the web for the better part of an hour now.) This PDF[^], which, I believe is an except from this book[^], written by this prof. at Berkeley[^]. The Part about Turing is down on page 3, but if you've never read about Godel, then you might want to start at the beginning. I especially love this quote:

                                And when we saw the computer, when we saw its code - and Turing saw it first - we were looking at complexity incarnate. And then suddenly we saw complexity everywhere. It materialized, it crystalized around us - even though it had always been there. We have yet to recover from the shock.

                                Once you wanted revolution
                                Now you're the institution
                                How's it feel to be the man?

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Marc Clifton
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #25

                                David Stone wrote:

                                I've been following links around the web for the better part of an hour now.)

                                Yikes! Thanks! I'm reading... (great quote too). Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

                                D 1 Reply Last reply
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                                • M Marc Clifton

                                  David Stone wrote:

                                  I've been following links around the web for the better part of an hour now.)

                                  Yikes! Thanks! I'm reading... (great quote too). Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson

                                  D Offline
                                  D Offline
                                  David Stone
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #26

                                  Marc Clifton wrote:

                                  Yikes!

                                  Heh. I actually tend to do that pretty often. I'll start in one place and just keep clicking around on stuff that looks interesting. Computability is actually really interesting. Turing Machines, Finite State Automata, P vs NP completeness. Fun stuff.

                                  And when we saw the computer, when we saw its code - and Turing saw it first - we were looking at complexity incarnate. And then suddenly we saw complexity everywhere. It materialized, it crystalized around us - even though it had always been there.
                                  We have yet to recover from the shock.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C code frog 0

                                    Marc Clifton wrote:

                                    I'm working on that article, it's just going sloooow.

                                    It must be catching. I'm having the same problem. I launched an internal website a few days ago and the clients keep wanting me to change certain things. * We want all users to be able to access X. ... * Oops no we don't. We only want these users to access X. ... * Well, now all the users who cannot access X want to know if they can get a Y to access. ... Loopus Infinitus :sigh:


                                    If we all used the Plain English compiler every post in the lounge would be a programming question.:cool:
                                    Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.

                                    People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog. The act of using CPhog alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    Polymorpher
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #27

                                    LOL you must work for us Pablo

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                                    • E Eric Dahlvang

                                      Should the database table that keeps track of all tables that are not self-referencing contain a reference to itself? If it does, then it should not. If it does not, then it should. Adapted from Bertrand Russell's paradox: here[^]

                                      P Offline
                                      P Offline
                                      Polymorpher
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #28

                                      Looks like this turned into an educational experience in the end...It's pretty interesting...you got my 5 Pablo

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