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From: jbn@wdl1.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Responsibility and blame
Message-ID: <598@wdl1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-Aug-85 10:57:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: wdl1.598
Posted: Mon Aug  5 10:57:01 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 11-Aug-85 05:23:48 EDT
Sender: notes@wdl1.UUCP
Organization: Ford Aerospace, Western Development Laboratories
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Nf-ID: #R:tove:-28700:wdl1:4200031:000:530
Nf-From: wdl1!jbn    Jul 29 19:53:00 1985


       The ``obvious proof'' chestnut surfaces again.  ``Obvious'' means that
you can find the proof without extensive search; i.e. exploration of blind
alleys and backtracking is minimal.  Obvious proofs may be long, but the work
all moves the proof forward.  Those of us who have worked in automatic theorem
proving are very aware of the difference between an obvious proof and an
short but non-obvious proof; theorem provers are good at obvious proofs.
       Let's quit discussing mathematics in net.singles.

					John Nagle