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by roenxi 1594 days ago
Breathing is applied formal logic. The range of things that can be reduced to applied formal logic is pretty much everything if we accept that "applied formal logic" doesn't mean formal mathematical proofs.

If we could strip out of reality the bits that can be understood as a practical application of the basic branches of math there wouldn't be anything left. Nevertheless most people get a long way in life without needing to engage with that (which is lucky because there is too much to learn in one lifetime).
1 comments
baq 1594 days ago
I get the OP’s point: it doesn’t matter what you think about usefulness of knowing how to formally prove anything, the point is that you’re doing it every time you program a computer, so might as well 1) be aware of that 2) learn a thing or two about how it’s done by pros.
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roenxi 1594 days ago
Should I study knot theory to tie my shoelaces? Should tailors and cup-makers study topology? Should it be mandatory to study economics before buying groceries?

Looking at code as applied formal logic is not a useful view outside of some rather obscure communities. Even code as a recipe is more useful view in practice.

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baq 1594 days ago
I’m not saying you should get a phd in logic. I’m saying knowing what your inputs and outputs are supposed to be and writing test assertions is basically checking whether your theorem/lemma is true in disguise (unit of code works as expected) and knowing a bit of theory from that domain can’t hurt. Even if it’s only de Morgan’s laws, which you’ll admit is a rather low bar…
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roenxi 1594 days ago
> writing test assertions is basically checking whether your theorem/lemma is true in disguise

But that is almost the polar opposite of treating a program as applied logic. If there is one thing that is not reasonable when dealing with logic, it is "proof by multiple test cases that seem to work, I think".

And I don't clear the low bar for de Morgan’s laws, I've completely forgotten what they are. And on looking them up, that doesn't look like an important component of programming. A programmer could reasonably get away with not knowing them. Probably going to learn them by rote over a few years, but that is hardly "applied logic" in any sense that is worth talking about.

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