GY. Chaitin on the Ubiquity of Undecidability
Greg Chaitin, author most recently of MetaMath!, discusses the ubiquity of undecidability: incredibly all kinds of mathematical and physical systems exhibit utterly unpredictable, baffling behavior– and it’s possible to prove we can never fully understand why!
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Joseph said,
July 24, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I just want to say that I appreciated this interview immensely. I must have listened to it five times, trying to really wrap my brain around this. Thanks!
strauss said,
July 25, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Thanks! As you can tell, I am very enthusiastic about this topic– it is really one of the most central issues in contemporary science and mathematics.
Some good things to check out:
Of course, the previous week’s interview with Stephen Wolfram.
Metamath! by Chaitin
The absolutely unique and charming, Pulitzer prize-winning Gödel-Escher-Bach
Also check out this article I’ve pitched a few times, filtering all this through puzzles and games, ultimately touching on the very nature of mathematical inquiry.
Someday, John Conway’s baby-level “My First Abstract Computability Book” will come out, explaining the basic constructions in a truly elementary way.
Chris Daniel said,
January 18, 2011 at 6:25 am
Excellent podcast. Thanks a lot.
Mark A. Huebner said,
March 2, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Thank you for your wonderful podcast. So many interesting math concepts were presented to me in school and you are slowly pointing the way to search out all their mysteries! I had thought about Goedel previously and this talk expands on his perspective from the mathematics field. Also the comments about Liebnitz and his thoughts on the mathematical requirements for a good scientific theory. The G4G9 podcast opened the door to a new world of interesting activities. Thank you!