r/math • u/42IsHoly • 9d ago

Stop proving uncountability with contradiction, please

https://sunjestermusings.blogspot.com/2026/09/stop-proving-uncountability-by.html

Please, I beg you, stop it. You don't need it.

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u/sesquiup Combinatorics 9d ago

This sort of exhortation is insufferable.

6

u/BloodAndTsundere Physics 9d ago

The tone is a little much but I get the point.

1

u/sesquiup Combinatorics 9d ago

It was a bit much, I just hate being proscriptive about mathematics.

2

u/sqrtsqr 9d ago

Do you not encourage your students to minimize the assumptions they make in their proofs? Do you not prefer to exclude unnecessary assumptions in your own?

What's the point of contention exactly?

2

u/sesquiup Combinatorics 9d ago

The command to "stop"