Unjust Governments: The Proof


A note to non-mathematicians (and a reminder to mathematicians ...):
To prove that a statement is true for all elements of a certain set, one shows that it is true for an arbitrary element of that set.

Theorem. All governments are unjust.

Proof. Consider an arbitrary government. Since it is arbitrary, it is obviously unjust. The assertion being correct for an arbitrary government, it is thus true for all governments.

(Solomon W. Golomb, in "The Mathemagician and the Pied Puzzler, A Collection in Tribute to Martin Gardner," E. Berlekamp and T. Rogers (editors), A K Peters 1999)


GO TO
Sergiu Hart's
Humor
Main Menu