Re: Can you find anything wrong with this solution to the Halting Problem?
From: Scott Dorsey (kludge_at_panix.com)
Date: 07/15/04
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Date: 15 Jul 2004 09:54:14 -0400
Marc Goodman <marc.goodman@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>No, you still don't get it. Let me try again. THERE IS NO
>CORRECT ANSWER ON THIS CLASS OF PROBLEMS. Period. Punct.
I don't know who wrote this, but it's from the old archives on
fionavar.arpa:
--cut here--
Kermit: This is Kermit the Frog reporting for Sesame Street news. Today, we
interview Professor Biskit who works on cookie biosearch. Hello Professor
Biskit, what have you got there?
Prof: Arcchhh, I am trying to find out iv there is zarch a sing as an infinitely
long coorkie. Dis machine vill produce every sort of coorkie possible: big
cookies, dittle cookies, square cookies, round cookies. The cookies come out dis
hole here.
Kermit: You mean if you get a really long cookie, it will come out of the hole
like a sausage?
Prof: Yaaaass, that's right. Now I vill set de machine going, and ve can start
vatching de corkies.
GRRRRUNNNCCHHHH CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA...
Prof: Aass here comes one,... CLUNK
Cookie Monster: Cooooookie! Chomp.
Prof: Und another. Dis one eees square: CLUNK.
Kermit: Uh professor...
Prof: Don't bother me now, I'm vatchin coorkies.
Kermit: What if there isn't an infinitely long cookie?
Prof: Then they vill come out of dis machine forever - there are an infinite
number of possible corkies you know.
Kermit: And what if the machine starts making an infinitely long cookie?
Prof: Thats obvious you frogk, I vill have to vait for it to come out.
Kermit: And how long will that take?
Prof: Forever.
Kermit: So if there isn't an infinitely long cookie, you have to wait forever
and if there is, you have to wait forever too. How are you going to find out if
there is an infinitely long cookie today?
Prof: Don't interrupt. Here comes a triangular one viff purple spots.
Cookie monster: CRUNCH. GULP.
Prof: My machine!
Kermit: Well, it looks as if the cookie monster has transcended the question of
whether there is an infinitely long cookie by eating the cookie machine. A good
thing as the computation was UNCOMPUTABLE.
-- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
- Next message: Will Twentyman: "Re: Groupthink"
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