[thechat] Math was Mythology was comics

[Andrew Forsberg]

>It's been quite a while since I've been through it ... {I'm pretty sure I
>have a copy of his original paper at home.} ... but I kind of remember it as
>a set-theoretic application of the Cantor diagonal argument. (He says
>offhandedly in the odd chance that that might mean something to anyone
>here!)

Cool, I'll go have a look at that! I must admit I've learnt a lot 
from this thread (I've bookmarked the excellent Xenu story in three 
different browsers just in case...).

Is the Cantor diagonal argument anything like (he asks hopefully) the 
Liar's paradox or Protagoras's argument with his pupil:

A story is told of the time Protagoras demanded his fee from 
Euathlus, a pupil of his. Euathlus refused to pay, saying, "But I 
haven't won a vicory yet". Protagoras replied, "But if I win this 
dispute, I must be paid because I've won, and if you win it I must be 
paid because you've won."

(ripped from Lyotard's Differend, page 6 -- because my memory for 
even a short story is so bad I'd likely mangle it) :-)
-- 
Andrew Forsberg
http://www.thepander.co.nz/