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by jcranmer
1153 days ago
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The clearest example is probably the diagonalization argument. Suppose you have a complete, infinite list of real numbers. You can construct a number by taking the i'th digit of the i'th number and changing it to a different digit. This number is not on the list, and yet it is still a real number. There are four possible responses to this argument. The first is to accept that this means that there are infinite sets which have different fundamental properties (the "infinite" in a "real number has an infinite number of digits" can't be iterated the same way as the "infinite" in the "infinite number of real numbers"), and the way these differ is labeled the "size" of the infinite set. The second is to object to definition of a real number (which has other repercussions in other branches of mathematics). The third is to object to the ability to iterate over an infinite set (essentially, finitism). The final is to object to the idea of an infinite set in the first place (essentially, ultrafinitism). The response to Cantor's proof of the uncountability of real numbers was basically for mathematicians to explore all the different responses, and ultimately, the first response is the one that is accepted by the majority of mathematicians, although some still work under models that object to the proof's correctness in some fashion. |
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