Eureka! I found it! What is it? A principle that proves every mathematical theorem! Amazing, isn’t it? Now mathematics is completely solved. Everything is proved–everything. How is this done? Well, it turns out to be quite simple. No, I’m not a math genius. And you don’t have to be a math genius to understand it, either. Ready? Here it is:
Start with the Universal Theorem Prover: 1=0. Simple, isn’t it? All you need is 1=0. With this simple principle you can prove everything! But isn’t that a contradiction? Yes, of course! You just have to remember that if a contradiction is true, then so is everything else. Isn’t that great?
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I suspect you aren’t impressed with the Universal Theorem Prover. It lacks meaning. It doesn’t really prove anything. Yet logically it does prove everything. That’s just the point: proving everything proves too much.
There is a trade-off between completeness and consistency. Yes, you can prove everything but the price is losing consistency. Alternately, you can retain consistency but you lose completeness. This is related to Gödel’s incompleteness theorems.
Which shall it be–completeness or consistency? Keep this in mind.
Science has analogues to the Universal Theorem Prover. I call them Universal Explanation Engines (UEE). What does a UEE do? It explains everything. There’s nothing it can’t explain. Do you have a question? Do you have some puzzling evidence? It can all be explained by a UEE.
For example, there’s the It Just So Happened That Way UEE, which explains everything as the result of just so happening that way. Why is the Earth so finely tuned for life? It Just So Happened That Way. How did the first organism arise? It Just So Happened That Way. Why do migratory birds have such finely tuned navigation systems? It Just So Happened That Way. You get the idea.
There’s another UEE called Darwinism, commonly known as the theory of evolution. How did similar fossils arise? Evolution! How did dissimilar fossils arise? Evolution! How did simple organisms arise? Evolution! How did complex organisms arise? Evolution! How did well-designed organisms arise? Evolution! How did poorly designed organisms arise? Evolution! How did beautiful organisms arise? Evolution! How did ugly organisms arise? Evolution!
As one proponent put it, Darwinism is a “universal acid” because it explains (away) every religious belief. So how did religion arise? Evolution! Then how did evolution arise? Evolution!
Evolution explains everything! It’s a Universal Explanation Engine.
But wait–this is suspicious. Maybe this “explanation” doesn’t mean much of anything. Stop! Don’t think! Just say “Evolution!”
May 2008