The reason I don’t say erroneous proof is because I want to distinguish between the claim that most proofs are wrong, and most conclusions are wrong. I thought most conclusions would be wrong, but thought much more confidently most proofs would be wrong, because mathematicians often have extra reasons & intuition to believe their conclusions are correct. The claim that most proofs are wrong is far weaker than the claim most conclusions are wrong.
Hmm. I’m not sure which is stronger. For all proofs I know, the conclusion is part of it such that if the conclusion is wrong, the proof is wrong. The reverse isn’t true—if the proof is right, the conclusion is right. Unless you mean “the proof doesn’t apply in cases being claimed”, but I’d hesitate to call that a conclusion of the proof.
Again, a few examples would clarify what you (used to) claim.
I’ll bow out here—thanks for the discussion. I’ll read futher comments, but probably won’t participate in the thread.
The reason I don’t say erroneous proof is because I want to distinguish between the claim that most proofs are wrong, and most conclusions are wrong. I thought most conclusions would be wrong, but thought much more confidently most proofs would be wrong, because mathematicians often have extra reasons & intuition to believe their conclusions are correct. The claim that most proofs are wrong is far weaker than the claim most conclusions are wrong.
Hmm. I’m not sure which is stronger. For all proofs I know, the conclusion is part of it such that if the conclusion is wrong, the proof is wrong. The reverse isn’t true—if the proof is right, the conclusion is right. Unless you mean “the proof doesn’t apply in cases being claimed”, but I’d hesitate to call that a conclusion of the proof.
Again, a few examples would clarify what you (used to) claim.
I’ll bow out here—thanks for the discussion. I’ll read futher comments, but probably won’t participate in the thread.