[denton-scratch]

> Let n equal 3 if God exists, or 5 if God does not exist. Is n prime?

[Not yet finished the article]

Author says the answer is True. I say the question is malformed, and cannot be answered.

[_flux]

I guess you could reformulate the intent of the problem as:

Let P be an arbitrary program and let n be equal to 3 if P terminates, or 5 if not.

Is it still malformed? Is so, then how about

Let n be equal to 3 Goldbach's conjecture is true, or 5 if not.

[killerstorm]

(A and X) or (A and (not X))

simplifies to A in classic logic.

I guess there's an ambiguity whether "God exists" is a propositional variable.

[hifromwork]

Isn't this the law of excluded middle (rejected by intuitionists and constructivists)?

[mrkeen]

Let n equal 3 if LEM is valid & sound, or 5 if LEM isn't valid & sound. Is n prime?

[IanCal]

Why can't it be answered? It seems trivial to answer.

[denton-scratch]

The question is malformed because it contains a term that cannot be evaluated.

[samatman]

I see the question this way:

   fn is_n_prime_whether_or_not_God_exists()
       if (is_prime(3) && is_prime(5)) { // early return 
            return true;
       } else { 
            return three_if_God_exists_five_otherwise(); 
       }
   }

[brabel]

Even if evaluating that would make no difference?

[denton-scratch]

"God" has some unique properties. One of those might be that God neither exists nor doesn't exist. If God has this property of 'neitherism', then the value of n is undefined. Neitherism has been attributed to many religious entities.

To answer a question, you first have to be able to parse the question.

[ReleaseCandidat]

That's the problem with side effects: you don't know if they make a difference until you evaluate them. And "God" is about the biggest imaginable side effect.

[kaba0]

Well, the compiler says undefined behavior and optimizes it away :D