[MJA]

Definitions:

• Conjecture - A mathematical statement which has been proposed as a true statement, but which no one has yet been able to prove or disprove.
• Theorem - An proposition that has been or is to be proved on the basis of explicit assumptions; A statement that can be proven using logical (deductive) reasoning.
• Axiom - A recognized truth.
• Truth - That which is true.

Questions:

1) Of the scientifically measured micro and macro infinite universe that we find ourselves, how much of our combined finite measured knowledge is conjecture, how much is theorem, and how much is axiom or truth?

2) What is the combined truth of our measure?

3) What is the total known truth of the universe?

4) How much more truth of the universe is there yet to know?

5) And, is the universe truly measurable?

Thanks,

=
MJA

[mkirkpatrick]

Thanks MJA for starting of a great thread,it is conjecture how we came to be here,and there are many theorums about this,evolution being one of them,that we are on an
up-welling arc.
The axiom that I most like,is that of the eternal now.The truth of this to me is that we
are the very embodiment of it ourselves.


Truth like life itself is beyond measure,for all is eternal,beyond alpha and omega.




regards michael.

[neutralino]

Interesting thread, MJA. Axioms are used mostly in pure mathematics, and can be thought of as strict rules which we must always follow. Whether a statement is true or false can then be derived, using logic, from the axioms. Thus, if there are no axioms, then we cannot say whether statements are true or false.

A conjecture is, as you say, something that one puts forward to be a true statement, but which has not yet been proven. However, conjectures are not just guesses. Normally, conjectures are made when we really think that something should be true, but just haven't been able to prove it yet.

I'm not sure that any of your questions are answerable. I don't think that we can ever, in nature, prove something completely, since the world is not an abstract mathematical framework. Any theory we have of the universe must be a simplification. We can prove things within the refines of a model, but whether this is absolute "truth" is debatable.