Members AudioMaverick Posted August 4, 2005 Members Share Posted August 4, 2005 This has been around for some time. A friend of mine was doing some work in the Cal-Poly Math & Science building. He remembered this and sent it to me, today. I thought some of you would get a kick out it... ______________________________If the proof of a theorem is not immediately apparent, it may be because you are trying the wrong approach. Below are some effective methods of proof that may aim you in the right direction. 1. Proof by Obviousness: "The proof is so clear that it need not be mentioned." 2. Proof by General Agreement: "All in Favor?..." 3. Proof by Imagination: "Well, We'll pretend its true." 4. Proof by Convenience: "It would be very nice if it were true, so ..." 5. Proof by Necessity: "It had better be true or the whole structure of mathematics would crumble to the ground." 6. Proof by Plausibility: "It sounds good so it must be true." 7. Proof by Intimidation: "Don't be stupid, of course it's true." 8. Proof by Lack of Sufficient Time: "Because of the time constraint, I'll leave the proof to you." 9. Proof by Postponement: "The proof for this is so long and arduous, so it is given in the appendix." 10. Proof by Accident: "Hey, what have we here?" 11. Proof by Insignificance: "Who really cares anyway?" 12. Proof by Mumbo-Jumbo: " For any epsilon> 0 there exists a corresponding delta > 0 s.t. f(x)-L 13. Proof by Profanity: (example omitted) 14. Proof by Definition: "We'll define it to be true." 15. Proof by Tautology: "It's true because it's true." 16. Proof by Plagiarism: "As we see on page 238 ..." 17. Proof by Lost Reference: "I know I saw this somewhere ..." 18. Proof by Calculus: "This proof requires calculus, so we'll skip it." 19. Proof by Terror: When intimidation fails ... 20. Proof by Lack of Interest: "Does anyone really want to see this?" 21. Proof by Illegibility: " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Auggie Doggie Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 I majored in mathematics, and I have to admit that I've used several of those on homework problems, test problems, in presentations, and in papers...and on occasion, the instructors either didn't notice or didn't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jollibug Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 You know it's sad, but whenever I have a family re-union, everyone pulls one of those methods out of a hat and proceeds to stick to it until all hell freezes over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 Funny!!! I minored in math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zone_ahead Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 sounds like a day on the political forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted August 6, 2005 Members Share Posted August 6, 2005 I've been trying to prove this all along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Slowly Posted August 6, 2005 Members Share Posted August 6, 2005 Forgot one: Proof by association! Slowly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AudioMaverick Posted August 6, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 6, 2005 Originally posted by Slowly Forgot one: Proof by association! Slowly I think that would conflict with *Proof by A.F.K.T.* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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