A Possible "solution" to the Halting Problem

The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide by
zero.

On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:

> The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
> This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide by
> zero.
>
Error 001: Invalid input. Please try again.

--
Won't we just love voice responding software?
Just imagine a sexy female voice saying,
"I'm sorry, invalid input. Please try again."

Other favorites are
"Hang on while I try that extension."
"Or press one for more options."

But damn, the last victimized buyer of that voice answering system I
noticed didn't get a sexy female voice saying
"Or press one for more options."
Just an ordinary female voice.

Riddle of the day. Have you given your life over to automation?

"William Elliot" <marsh{}hevanet.remove.com> wrote in message
news:Pine.BSI.4.58.0610150722520.7240{}vista.hevan et.com...
> On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:
>
>> The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
>> This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide by
>> zero.
>>
> Error 001: Invalid input. Please try again.

The point is there are not any questions too difficult for logic to correctly
answer, logic itself is not incomplete as Kurt Godel proposed. There are merely
some questions where the question itself is ill-formed.

>
> --
> Won't we just love voice responding software?
> Just imagine a sexy female voice saying,
> "I'm sorry, invalid input. Please try again."
>
> Other favorites are
> "Hang on while I try that extension."
> "Or press one for more options."
>
> But damn, the last victimized buyer of that voice answering system I
> noticed didn't get a sexy female voice saying
> "Or press one for more options."
> Just an ordinary female voice.
>
> Riddle of the day. Have you given your life over to automation?

On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:
> "William Elliot" <marsh{}hevanet.remove.com> wrote in message
> > On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:
>
> The point is there are not any questions too difficult for logic to
> correctly answer, logic itself is not incomplete as Kurt Godel proposed.
>
> There are merely some questions where the question itself is ill-formed.

Go step off a paradigm shift.

In comp.theory Peter Olcott <NoSpam{}seescreen.com> wrote:
> "William Elliot" <marsh{}hevanet.remove.com> wrote in message
> news:Pine.BSI.4.58.0610150722520.7240{}vista.hevan et.com...
> > On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:
> >
> >> The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
> >> This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide by
> >> zero.
> >>
> > Error 001: Invalid input. Please try again.
>
> The point is there are not any questions too difficult for logic to correctly
> answer, logic itself is not incomplete as Kurt Godel proposed. There are merely
> some questions where the question itself is ill-formed.

Brilliant. By defining any unsolvable problems as "ill-formed" then
we can say that all "well-formed" questions are solvable. No more
unsolvable problems!

Advancement of science by changing definitions. Gotta love it.

--

Steve Stringer
sillybanter{}

Halting Problem: There are two kinds of people, those who finish what
they start and those who ...
--
Regards,
Casey

<sillybanter{}> wrote in message news:MtsYg.9714$gx6.5379{}trnddc05...
> In comp.theory Peter Olcott <NoSpam{}seescreen.com> wrote:
>> "William Elliot" <marsh{}hevanet.remove.com> wrote in message
>> news:Pine.BSI.4.58.0610150722520.7240{}vista.hevan et.com...
>> > On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:
>> >
>> >> The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
>> >> This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide
>> >> by
>> >> zero.
>> >>
>> > Error 001: Invalid input. Please try again.
>>
>> The point is there are not any questions too difficult for logic to correctly
>> answer, logic itself is not incomplete as Kurt Godel proposed. There are
>> merely
>> some questions where the question itself is ill-formed.
>
> Brilliant. By defining any unsolvable problems as "ill-formed" then
> we can say that all "well-formed" questions are solvable. No more
> unsolvable problems!
>
Since the only reason that these problems are unsolvable is because they are
ill-formed, this makes perfect sense. To see it any other way would be like me
saying that you don't even know how to tell the time of day because of your
inability to correctly answer the following question; What time is it blue or
green?

> Advancement of science by changing definitions. Gotta love it.
>
> --
>
> Steve Stringer
> sillybanter{}
>

<sillybanter{}> wrote in message news:MtsYg.9714$gx6.5379{}trnddc05...
> In comp.theory Peter Olcott <NoSpam{}seescreen.com> wrote:
>> "William Elliot" <marsh{}hevanet.remove.com> wrote in message
>> news:Pine.BSI.4.58.0610150722520.7240{}vista.hevan et.com...
>> > On Sun, 15 Oct 2006, Peter Olcott wrote:
>> >
>> >> The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
>> >> This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide
>> >> by
>> >> zero.
>> >>
>> > Error 001: Invalid input. Please try again.
>>
>> The point is there are not any questions too difficult for logic to correctly
>> answer, logic itself is not incomplete as Kurt Godel proposed. There are
>> merely
>> some questions where the question itself is ill-formed.
>
> Brilliant. By defining any unsolvable problems as "ill-formed" then
> we can say that all "well-formed" questions are solvable. No more
> unsolvable problems!

X = 50.0 / 0.0
Is this an unsolvable problem or an ill-formed problem?

>
> Advancement of science by changing definitions. Gotta love it.
>
> --
>
> Steve Stringer
> sillybanter{}
>

In article <QSsYg.7900$eZ4.333{}dukeread06>,
"Peter Olcott" <NoSpam{}SeeScreen.com> writes:
....

>
>X = 50.0 / 0.0
>Is this an unsolvable problem or an ill-formed problem?
>

I cannot see a problem there at all, just an equation with an undefined RHS.
What is the problem exactly?

Derek Holt.

Peter Olcott wrote:
> The Halt program throws an "Invalid Input" exception.
> This would be analogous to the hardware exception of an attempt to divide by
> zero.

When exactly does the hypothetical Halt program throw this exception?
That is, what is the computable property of the program text the Halt
program uses to detect invalid input?

Oh well, I guess we're in for another thousand message crank fest.

--
Aatu Koskensilta (aatu.koskensilta{}xortec.fi)

"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, daruber muss man schweigen"
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus