A quotation from Claude Bernard
But it happens further quite naturally that men who believe too firmly in their theories, do not believe enough in the theories of others. So the dominant idea of these despisers of their fellows is to find others’ theories faulty and to try to contradict them. […] They make experiments only to destroy a theory, instead of to seek the truth. At the same time, they make poor observations, because they choose among the results of their experiments only what suits their object, neglecting whatever is unrelated to it, and carefully setting aside everything which might tend toward they idea they wish to combat.Claude Bernard (1813-1878) French physiologist, scientist
An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine [Introduction à l’Étude de la Médecine Expérimentale], ch. 3 (1865) [tr. Greene (1957)]
More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bernard-claude/81484…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #claudebernard #bias #confirmationbias #disproof #experimentation #hypothesis #proof #science #scientificmethod #theory
But it happens further quite naturally that men who believe too firmly in their theories, do not believe enough in the theories of others. So the dominant idea of these despisers of their fellows is to find others' theories faulty and to try to contradict them. [...] They make experiments…
The Influentists: AI hype without proof
https://carette.xyz/posts/influentists/
#HackerNews #AI #Hype #Influentists #Proof #Technology #Critique
I can't fathom why the dependently typed programming language and interactive proof assistant F* isn't as prominent (hyped) as Lean, Idris, Agda, Coq, etc., among the programmers.
F* (#Fstar) is tatics-based proof assistant that additionally employs de Moura's Z3 #SMT solver—yes, the same bloke who created #Lean. Z3, F*, and Lean all came out of Microsoft Research. More importantly to #programmers, F* was created with the express purpose of doing #proof-oriented #verified #programming.
Lean4 proof that SSOT requires definition-time hooks and introspection
https://zenodo.org/records/18177320
#HackerNews #Lean4 #SSOT #proof #definition-time #hooks #introspection #Zenodo
Any system encoding facts faces a fundamental constraint: when multiple independent locations encode the same fact, truth becomes indeterminate. We prove that DOF = 1 (Single Source of Truth) is the unique representation guaranteeing coherence, the impossibility of disagreement among encodings. The Core Theorem (Oracle Arbitrariness). In any incoherent encoding system (DOF > 1 with divergent values), no resolution is principled: for ANY oracle claiming to identify the "true" value, there exists an equally-present value that disagrees. This is not about inconvenience. It is about the determinacy of truth. Programming languages instantiate this epistemic structure: encoding systems become codebases, facts become structural specifications (class existence, method signatures), coherence becomes consistency across encoding locations, and DOF = 1 becomes the Single Source of Truth (DRY principle). Encoding systems → CodebasesFacts → Structural specifications (class existence, method signatures)Coherence → Consistency across encoding locationsDOF = 1 → Single Source of Truth (DRY principle)We prove that achieving DOF = 1 for structural facts requires specific language features: definition-time hooks AND introspectable derivation. Most mainstream languages (Java, C++, Rust, Go, TypeScript, etc.) lack these features and cannot achieve coherence for structural facts regardless of programmer effort. Four Theorems: Coherence Forcing: DOF = 1 is the unique value guaranteeing coherence. DOF = 0 means the fact is unrepresented; DOF > 1 permits incoherent states.Oracle Arbitrariness: Under incoherence, any resolution is arbitrary, no oracle is justified by the encodings alone.Language Requirements: For structural facts in software, DOF = 1 requires definition-time hooks AND introspection. These are logically forced.Strict Dominance: The coherence restoration complexity gap is unbounded: O(1) vs Ω(n).Theoretical Foundation. The derivation theory (independence, derivability, axis collapse) is established in previous work (https://zenodo.org/records/18123532). This paper proves the coherence consequences and instantiates them to programming languages. All theorems machine-checked in Lean 4 (2,104 lines, 119 theorems). Practical demonstration via OpenHCS PR #44: migration from 47 scattered checks to 1 ABC (DOF 47 → 1).
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