Re: Halting Problem: What Constitutes Pathological Input

On 07/05/2025 11:26, Fred. Zwarts wrote:

Op 07.mei.2025 om 03:39 schreef olcott:

<snip>

There must be an algorithm having a specified sequence
of steps that are applied to the input to derive the output.
>

 Your 'must' has no basis.

Not only that, but he is literally begging the question - i.e. assuming as true that which he hopes to prove. "All questions must be decidable, therefore all questions are decidable."
Turing assumed the same thing: "All questions are decidable." But he went on to demonstrate that if the assumption is true, it must be false - a patent absurdity that shows that his original assumption was false.
--
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within