Re: Halting Problem: What Constitutes Pathological Input

On 05/05/2025 21:03, Mr Flibble wrote:

On Mon, 05 May 2025 16:00:11 -0400, dbush wrote:

<snip>

I want to know if any arbitrary algorithm X with input Y will halt when
executed directly.  It would be *very* useful to me if I had an
algorithm H that could tell me that in *all* possible cases.  If so, I
could solve the Goldbach conjecture, among many other unsolved problems.
>
Does an algorithm H exist that can tell me that or not?

 That isn't what the halting problem is about at all:

Yes, it is.

the halting problem
is about pathological input being undecidable but not for the reason
claimed in any halting problem proof.

By "pathological input", you mean a program the halt behaviour of which is undecidable. So we are in agreement, even if you don't yet realise it.
--
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
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