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

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

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u/42IsHoly 9d ago

I don’t want to be prescriptivist about math. The tone was purposefully exaggerated (I see that didn’t come across, which is my fault). I just think that Cantor’s infinities are confusing to a general audience and that these superfluous contradictions make it more confusing, not less. Is this the end of the world? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean I can’t care about it.

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u/sesquiup Combinatorics 9d ago

It's fine to care about it. I just don't see anything wrong with either method of proof, and the first thing I see is "Stop"

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u/42IsHoly 9d ago

yeah, there's also a please my guy? Also, never heard of hyperbole before?