Limits of Logic: The Gödel Legacy

Kurt Gödel showed that mathematical thinking cannot be encapsulated in a formal axiomatic reasoning system. He proved that any formal symbolic system of axioms is either incomplete or inconsistent.

The talk itself addresses some of the following issues:
“What does this deep result mean in practice? What are the limits of computer thinking? Can beauty and creativity and a sense of humour be formalized?”

This talk was given by Douglas Hofstadter, an American scholar of Cognitive Science, Physics, and Comparative Literature.

Is it possible that we will one day know everything? Or are there fields of research that will always lie beyond the bounds of human comprehension? Marcus du Sautoy investigates.

Updated August 25, 2023 by Digital & Web Operations, University Relations (web_services@athabascau.ca)